Nevermore
by KatStorm
Summary: When a mysterious figure attacks Destiny's Bounty, all the ninja can do is keep this newcomer from strangling Zane. It probably isn't helping that Sensei Wu isn't able to focus on the scroll he found hidden beneath the deck. With Pythor closing in on the last fang blade, it's a race against the clock as high-strung emotions threaten to overcome the Bounty's newest addition.
1. The Strike That Hit Home

_I suppose this is me venturing into yet another fandom, but hopefully not my last. Hello, all! This is my first Ninjago story_, _so I'll probably play around with the characters to get use to narrating from their points of view. As crazy a summary as this fanfic has, I get the feeling that things will live up to it in no time. Before we begin, no, this is not crack, and the only decided pairing is Janya (which isn't a dominate theme; I'm not really one for writing a ton of romance)._ _I apologize for any mistakes, since my "beta" is more or less flooded with chapters from another story and won't be able to take on a new project. Also, my updating tends to be as unpredictable as a lightning strike, but I hope I can get a chapter or two out there within an appropriate amount of time.  
_

_Ahem! But now that we've gotten all of that formal stuff out of the way... I'm KatStorm! If you have any questions, comments, or words of advice, lay 'em on me! Hopefully, _Nevermore_ will get better as it progresses, but I can't do that without my trusty readers! I hope you enjoy the first chapter!  
_

_-This story takes place during the race for the fangblades (back in season one).-_

_I do not own Ninjago, sadly. (The writing's pretty cool.)_

* * *

**The Strike That Hit Home**

The sounds of struggling reached the ears of Sensei Wu, who gave a soft smile at the all-too-familiar noises. His students were training without being asked. Perhaps they were finally taking it seriously.

Wu took a deep breath and placed the prophecy scroll on the top shelf of the bookcase. Lloyd had been identified as the Green Ninja, so until the final battle was closer, the scroll should to be placed out of sight. One never knew when someone might try to steal it, or read too far into their future.

With a deep sigh, Wu sat back on a crate and allowed his tired eyes to trail around the dusty storage room. Usually, all rooms were open to his pupils, but this was one place he had made sure to keep hidden. The room had more than pieces of history- it safeguarded some of Ninjago's darkest secrets, a few of which still remained a mystery to Wu. Regardless, it wasn't up to him to read into the past; the Green Ninja would have that privilege when he reached his true potential. Not even his own curiosity could overrule destiny.

A sudden shift in the _Bounty _drew Wu out of his thoughts before he could delve any deeper. Things in the room trembled around him as though shaken by an earthquake. Sensei Wu took another deep breath. He would have to give Cole a lecture about using _Destiny's Bounty _as a playground for his elemental weapon. This would be the fifth time this week alone that the deck might bare the marks of the ninjas' sparring. The last tussle had left the mast on fire and set off an explosion so massive that the coordinates of the _Bounty's _engine had been recalibrated and left the ship spinning in circles for hours. Jay still swears up and down that it wasn't his fault.

"Those kids are getting to be a handful," Wu mumbled to himself as the _Bounty _gave another jolt. This time, a few scrolls tumbled from the top shelf, the Green Ninja prophecy included. The man quickly bent over to pick them up but noticed that one of the scrolls looked... odd. Instead of the typical off-white color scrolls usually were, this one was more of a yellow hue than Wu was use to seeing. The edges were worn, and Wu thought he could see a word or two bleeding through the parchment.

Sensei Wu returned the other scrolls to their respective places on the shelf before turning his attention to the yellow oddball in his hands. This scroll also felt heavier, on top of appearing older. His head gently tugged on the ends, opening up the page for his eyes to read.

Before he could even make out the first word, the ship jerked to one side, throwing Wu clear across the room. Red lights flashed as the alarm blared loudly in his ear.

That was never a good sign.

**Jay's POV**

Okay, I don't care what the others told you (if you've even heard from them), but it was _not me _who made the training dummy go ka-blooey. Sure, it was _my_ dummy, but that doesn't mean I did it. Are we clear? Crystal?

Cool.

Moving on.

When the alarm went off, my first thought was Nya. I mean, that siren could mean that evil was spotted in Ninjago City, but it was the same bells and whistles that alerted us to enemies aboard _Destiny's Bounty_. Naturally, I thought of her safety before my own.

That may or may not have distracted me enough so that I didn't notice the blur leaping over the side of the _Bounty_ and then nail me in the back of the head. My back might have been turned, but you wouldn't believe me anyways.

While I was waiting for the world to stop spinning, I noticed that the figure was clad in material of swirling grays and silvers. I couldn't see his face- he was wearing a mask- but what drew my eyes to him wasn't the freakishly realistic ninja suit he wore: it was the glowing whip in his hands. And yes, it was glowing. No Serpentine spit venom in my face while I was getting blindsided.

As soon as the ninja-impersonator turned to get his bearings, a blast of fire came within inches of his face, leaving him to dive sideways or risk serious burns. Kai lunged at the figure, sword in hand, slashing with enough ferocity to make any worthy fighter tremble in their shoes. But this person just wasn't fazed. With a quick backflip, he flicked the whip while spinning midair. The golden weapon fetched tight around the hilt of Kai's sword, yanking it from his grasp and sending it clattering to the deck a few feet behind the intruder.

By then, I figured I could stand up without toppling, but my head was aching like crazy. Without hesitation, I yelled, "NinjaGO!" and whirled around to get my spinjitzu started. From there, the blue tornado almost seemed to form on its own.

Diving for the person, I saw Zane launch his shurikens on either side of my target. They soared over my head, lodging in the floor at the figure's feet, but just as they started to freeze the deck, the figure cracked the whip, wrapping it around the railing, and swung himself off of the side of the _Bounty_.

"Leaving so soon..?" I ground to a halt and exchanged a confused glance with the other three. Cole lowered his scythe with a frown of disappointment.

"I didn't get to land a single blow!" complained the earth ninja, sheathing his weapon on his back.

"None of us did," said Zane quietly. "We couldn't actually hit him."

"Okay, dude, don't tell me the same person who tried to coldcock me _just got away_," I groaned loudly.

No sooner than the words left my mouth did the figure use his whip to swing up onto the opposite side of _Destiny's Bounty_.

"Spoke too soon!" I yelped.

He moved so fast that he was barely a blur, if not almost faster than I could see. As my element was lightning, I was pretty quick on my feet when I wanted to be, but this guy must have drunk twelve cups of coffee before hopping aboard. The masked figure seemingly materialized directly in front of Zane and lashed at the Nindriod with his whip. Zane leaped over the coil, soared over the person's head, and touched down mere inches behind him- and ducked just in time to avoid Cole's scythe. The weapon had come close to decapitating the ice ninja; that newcomer had to be a goner.

A loud _clang! _shook the foundation of the _Bounty_. My eyes almost popped out of my head as Cole's scythe bounced off of the intruder's arm.

No... that wasn't his arm... There was something jutting out of it, like a... was that a..?

An arm blade?!

"What the-"

An identical blade shot out of the figure's other arm and slashed at Cole, cutting him off. From his crouched position, Zane deflected the blow with his shurikens and used the advantage to knock the person's feet out from under him.

Before he could get up, I dove forward and snatched up the whip that had been knocked from his hand. Kai brandished his flaming sword at the attacker, closely mirrored by Cole and Zane with their respective weapons. I looped the whip around one shoulder and pulled out my nunchucks, you know, just in case this guy didn't get the picture.

And...

He didn't.

Speedy Gonzales (because what else was I suppose to call him when he moved that fast?) bolted to his feet, eyes smoldering through the slit in his mask. No... they really were smoking. FREAKY.

Just as Speedy threw himself at Zane, I bopped him on the head with my nunchucks, electricity humming through the weapon. Sparks showered down around Speedy who dropped like a rock and lay crumpled on the deck. He twitched a few times, but didn't move otherwise. I exchanged a look with the other ninja and we shuffled closer in synch.

"Uh, is he still breathing?" It really didn't look like he was. I started to poke him with a toe but Cole shot out his hand.

"Wait."

"What? I was just checking!" I sheathed my nunchucks and crossed my arms.

"You just hit him on the head. Once. And that wasn't even your best shot," Kai frowned.

"He was fast," added Cole.

"Too fast," I muttered.

"Where's Sensei?" asked Zane, glancing around.

"I am here," Sensei Wu appeared on the deck, Nya at his side. "There's an intruder aboard _Destiny's Bounty_."

"We know, Sensei," Kai stepped back and gestured to the limp form.

All fell still as we made room for Sensei to crouch beside Speedy Gonzales. My eyes instinctively went to Nya. She looked so cute with her face scrunched up in worry like that. She was actually worried about us! Or maybe Speedy... I wasn't too sure. Regardless, that expression of hers just made her all the more-

"Cole, please help me move her below decks." Sensei Wu's voice was unnaturally soft.

"Her?!" we ninja yelled.

Without speaking, Sensei put a hand to Speedy's head and gently pushed back the mask. The face of a young woman peered up at us. Well, her eyes were closed, but it still came like a slap through the face.

"She's a _woman?!_" I nearly screeched, but remembered that Nya was watching and managed to keep it to a normal screaming volume.

"But, Sensei-! There aren't any women ninja!" protested Kai.

Sensei Wu chuckled quietly to himself. "One may come across the occasional kunoichi, however rare. Women are born with their own strengths, like your sister." Nya blushed at this.

The voice of reason (aka: Zane) said with a small smile, "I suppose that makes sense, even though it does go against tradition."

"Sensei," said Cole, "where should we move her to?"

Sensei hesitated a moment before saying, "We'll put her in Lloyd's room."

At those words, Lloyd Garmadon himself exploded onto the deck with a large grin, his black cape sweeping around his feet. "Does that mean I'm moving into the ninja's room?"

"I thought I told you to stay below!" huffed Sensei, getting to his feet. "But yes, you will be moving in with the other ninja."

Lloyd whooped loudly and punched the air with his fist. "Thank you, woman-ninja!"

"Kunoichi," corrected Nya.

"Sensei," Zane piped up. "Do you know who she is or why she is here?"

Our teacher shook her head. "I'm afraid that I'm unable to answer you inquiries. However," he looked up suddenly, "as another stage in your training, I would like for the four of you to work together to figure it out."

This statement earned him five blanks stares; Lloyd hmphed loudly.

"But Sensei, how are we suppose to do that?" I asked, bewildered.

A jolly smile stretched across Sensei Wu's face. "I suppose you'll have to figure that out as well. I have already provided you with sleeping arrangements, so the rest should come to you as easy as a sea breeze."

This brought on a wave of questions, none of which he bothered to answer.

"Nya, would you do me the pleasure of accompanying me below decks?" Sensei prompted, turning to the girl who nodded.

"Sure," she said.

We four elemental ninja gaped at Sensei Wu as he ambled after Nya with a cheery wave over his shoulder. "Do well with the guest, my pupils!" he called over his shoulder.

But none of the other ninja caught the frown that darkened his face just before he vanished.

**Kai's POV**

I think I'll take over before motormouth here runs off into left field. [Jay: Hey! I stayed on topic just fine!] Anyways, after a quick debate about what to do with the kunoichi, or "Speedy" as Jay had insisted upon calling her, the ninja relocated the girl to Lloyd's room as soon as the young ninja had dumped all of his stuff in our room. We found some rope in one of the cupboards and tied her to the mattress.

"So... what now?" Jay glanced at us.

I crouched next to the girl and lightly ran my finger along the side of the blade sticking out of one of her arms. It had slashed straight through the sleeve of the ninja outfit, but I couldn't see anything that strapped the weapon to her arm. I squinted and pulled up the mangled sleeve to reveal a startling sight.

The blade was protruding out of the girl's skin.

"Whoawhoawhoa! What is THAT?" Jay's eyes were as wide as saucers.

"It appears to be a part of her," answered Zane decisively.

"Y'think?! So what the heck is she? Another Nindriod?"

"That's one explanation," said Cole, scowling down at the kunoichi. "I'll ask Sensei."

"Sensei won't help us, Cole! He told us that he couldn't answer our questions and that we needed to figure it out as the next stage in our training!" I argued hotly. "Besides, what makes you think he'd give us a straight answer, anyways? He'd probably just give us more riddles." I huffed loudly and fixed my eyes on the girl. "He's been acting strange lately," I added.

"You've gotta be kidding me! He didn't really mean that we had to do _everything_, did he?" moaned Jay.

I smiled wolfishly. "You're free to watch her first."

"Watch her first?" if possible, his eyes widened further as he pointed at himself. "You want to _watch her_? Why?"

"He means that we should take turns keeping guard," said Cole, catching on. "In case she wakes up and feels like throwing a few more punches."

Jay snuck a peek at the kunoichi and gulped comically. "You guys really do want me dead, don't you? Do you not remember the part where she tried to take my head off? Know what? Cole, you're free to watch her first. You've been needing a new practice dummy, right?"

"Scared?" I smirked.

"No way!" he declared, whipping out his nunchucks and sitting down on the floor so fast I almost missed it. He crossed his arms, eyes closed. "You all go frolic in a field of flowers while I bravely guard our prisoner. I'll be fine here."

Snorting- and dodging a halfhearted kick from Jay- I turned to Cole and Zane. "If Jay's watching her, what should the rest of us do?"

"I'll go talk to Sensei," said Cole. "Even if he refuses to help, his guidance is something we've always relied on in the past."

"Which is probably why he's trying to push us away from it," I nodded to myself. "So to pass Sensei's newest test, we just have to figure out anything and everything about this kunoichi. Do you think it'll be like my first test?"

"You mean when Sensei had us dress up and attack you in the middle of the night?" said Jay from the floor.

"You think this could be another one of Sensei's students?" Cole frowned. "Wouldn't he have told us?"

"Maybe he thought we weren't enough to guard Lloyd," I said, but all that thought did was irritate me. Weren't we good enough? After all, the prophecy stated that the four elemental ninja were suppose to be the protectors of the Green Ninja. Nobody ever mentioned a fifth. Besides, there were only four elements- plus whatever special thing that came with being the Green Ninja; I didn't know much past being able to wield all of the elemental powers. Also, there were only four golden weapons.

Golden weapons...

My eyes fell on the glowing whip still draped around Jay's shoulder.

"Actually, Cole. I think I'll join you," I said in a low tone. "There's something I want to ask him..."

**Jay's POV**

So Kai jerks the mic out of my hands and says that it's because he's worried I'll get sidetracked, and then he goes and gives it right back. And we say Zane's the weird one. [Cole: Either tell them what happened next, or give me the microphone.] Okay, okay, sheesh. So touchy. This takes true artistic talent, my friends, and clearly- [All: JAY!] Fine! Jeez! I'm talking! I'm talking!

Before _certain people _can distract me, I think we were to the part where Kai more or less dragged Cole from the room after trying to rip my arm off to get Speedy's whip. Yeah, that sounds about right. Oh, and Zane just up and left without speaking. In other words, they all abandoned me to watch the only kunoichi in that desperate a need of anger management classes.

Fun, right?

Well, she slept for the first three hours. Frankly, _someone _should have relieved me of my impromptu shift long before then, but everyone seemed to have walked off the edge of the planet, so it was just me and the crazy lady. I would have much rather preferred to have been told to watch Nya, but alas it was not to be. Instead, I was stuck with some asylum-escapee who was just beginning to wake up.

I quickly flipped my mask back on and watched the kunoichi warily. If she started coming at me with those wicked blades of hers, I was zapping her butt back to sleep.

The girl groaned loudly and felt out the bed with one hand. Her eyelids fluttered slightly as the blades sank back into her arms, but didn't fully open. The hand continued to feel out the sheets, the mattress, the floor, until the rope that lashed her to the bed pulled tight. She instantly froze. A moment later, one eye opened slowly.

"I'm warning you, kunoichi-demon! I'm armed!"

I don't know why I said that. At the time, it made perfect sense.

Both eyes blinked open, gradually focusing on me. The irises were a dull gray. "Uh, who are you?"

I stared. "You don't remember?"

She blinked hard a few more times. "Should I remember?"

Okay, I know for a fact that there was no way this amnesia was my fault. That strike wasn't nearly solid enough to cause brain damage, and my lightning wasn't at its strongest either. I continued to stare at her, unable to do much else. I hadn't heard anything from the others in a while, and if I couldn't hear them, they probably couldn't hear me. Well, maybe if I screamed at the top of my lungs, but then Speedy might go psycho on me, or worse: Nya might think I screamed like a girl.

First spinjitzu master, if that ever happens, strike me dead.

[Kai: Good grief...]

I heard that! Ugh, can't a guy tell a story without being interrupted? ANYWHO...

I eyed her without lowering the nunchucks. "So... you have no clue who I am, where you are, or anything..?"

She sighed. "My memory's fine. I've just never met you before. Your voice isn't familiar," she said simply. "But I _don't _know where I am. This room is... different than where I remembered last remembered myself being."

Great. So the crazy female ninja didn't remember putting a dent in my skull. On the bright side, she didn't remember showing me up! Ha!

I flipped my mask back, but didn't put away my trusty weapon. There was no way in the world I was giving her another chance to best me. Her eyes trailed over my form but didn't give any inclination to remembering me. (Woohoo! Lucky~!)

"Who are you?"

Speedy chuckled wryly. "I think I asked you first."

It couldn't hurt to tell her my name, could it? "I'm Jay. You?"

"Griselda," she replied. (I liked Speedy better.) "Or just Zel. Jay, do you know where we are?"

"Yeah..." I wasn't stalling for time. Nope. Not at all. "Why?"

Zel raised an eyebrow. "Any particular reason why I'm tied to a bed?" Before I could answer, the blades shot out of her arms, slicing right through the rope at her wrists. I barely had time to blink in the time it took her to remove the rest of the rope. The girl brushed the bangs of her pixie cut back from her forehead. "There. That's better."

She. Was. FREE!

With a squeak, I brought my nunchucks down on her, fully intending to knock her out again, but my blow was softened by a pillow that Zel had jerked up as a temporary shield. Just as I was about to whack her again, Zel launched herself into the corner of the room, as far away from me as she could get, still clutching the pillow.

"You!" she gasped. "You're the one who rendered me unconscious!"

"Want another taste?" I twirled the nunchucks, and then screamed towards the doorway, "GUYS?! A LITTLE HELP?!"

Zel's eyes nervously shot towards the door. I quickly slid between her and the exit. By golly, she may have gotten out of the ropes, but I wasn't about to let her walk out of this room without a fight.

"You know him. Zane," she said softly, her tone a whole lot darker than it had just been. "You know Doctor Julien's creation."

I quickly slid my mask back on and began to twirl the nunchucks. "Sure." Gotta keep her talking. Can't let her escape.

"You protect him."

"Actually, we protect the Green Ninja, but Zane too." Where was everyone?

The pillow hit the floor, and a nanosecond later, Zel was flashing past me towards the door. I stuck out my foot and the girl tripped, flew across the room, and slammed into the far wall. This didn't seem to faze her too much, because she dove at me as she as she found solid ground.

I didn't even have time to yell "NinjaGO!" as I usually do. Nope. Just out-of-the-blue spinjitzu. (Hey! That rhymed! [All: groans.]) My tornado knocked her back a few times, but it was pretty clear I was only slowly her down, not stopping her. So it dawned on me that I should probably zap her with some ol' fashioned _lightning_.

I spun the nunchucks faster and shot a bolt of electricity at her. She dodged the first shot, but the second caught her full in the chest and sent her sprawling to the ground. Speedy Gonzales was back under.

And because Ninjago hates me, the others decided that that moment would be a good time to finally come to my rescue.

"Jay?" Kai burst into the room, sword flashing. Cole and Lloyd were right on his heels. The ninja took one look around the room before their eyes fell to the limp form on the floor.

"Did she wake up?" asked Cole, his hand reaching for his scythe.

"You think?!" I flailed my arms around.

"Why didn't you call us?" Kai demanded.

"I did!"

"Whoa… what happened in here?" Lloyd peered around the room with wide eyes, taking in the severed ropes, matted bed sheets, and the smoking pillowcase.

"Speedy went all nuts on me once she realized who I was! Started babbling about Zane and tried to bowl me over to get out!" I jumped as the pillow actually caught fire and quickly started to stomp it out.

"Zane?" Cole and Kai exchanged a look.

"Now that you mentioned it," began Cole, "Once Zane threw his shurikens, she did sort of hone in on him."

"She tried to take your head off," Kai pointed out.

Cole shook his head. "I interrupted an attack that was meant to hit Zane. It might have been a reflex."

"Okay, whatever. Freaky Zane obsession or not, what are we going to do with her?" I gestured to Zel.

We all exchanged a blank look.

Cole shrugged. "I'll see if we can find some extra chains we can use, since that rope worked so well last time."

Lloyd glanced between Zel and the doorway. "Hey, do you guys know where Zane went off to?"

"I'll find him," I offered quickly and scampered from the room.

They could deal with Speedy's insanity for the time being. I just needed some fresh air and a little talk with Nya.

* * *

_If you didn't understand the style of narration, just imagine that all of the ninja are crowding around one of those tape recorders with built-in microphones. When they finish what they have to say- or get the mic stolen from them- someone else speaks. The brackets are the background voices and sounds that creep into the recording.  
_

_I'm sorry if the first chapter seemed a little monotonous. It should pick up in a chapter or two; it always takes me a bit to get a story moving._

_Until next time~!_


	2. The Best Way to Defeat You Enemy

_I love snow days~ In honor of my school's out-of-the-blue free day, here's the second chapter! As amazing as it would be to update twice in the same week, it probably won't happen again without another random snowstorm. Let's keep our fingers crossed!_

_I don't own Ninjago, only my OCs._

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**The Best Way to Defeat Your Enemy...**

Wu sipped his tea in the silence of his room. He didn't quite know what to make of this newcomer, and he knew that the ninja were just as baffled. The man tried not to show it, but he felt as though something was tugging him further and further away from his pupils and their worries. To be completely honest with himself, the mere concept of a kunoichi was next to impossible. It was a hopeless fantasy at best. Nya being a samurai was stretching the known limits of what a woman was capable of, but to have a kunoichi just drop into their laps, and at such a critical time?

Sensei Wu knew that Pythor was growing ever closer to reaching his goal. It wouldn't be long now that the Great Devourer would rise again, and Wu hadn't the foggiest how to stop him. It seemed as though the Serpentine blocked their every move. They always appeared two steps ahead. To top it all off, there was this newcomer, out for blood. With her skills, even if they were to drop her off somewhere and get a head start, they probably wouldn't stay ahead for very long.

The man's troubled mind flashed back to the conversation he had just had with two of his students.

_"__What do you mean you won't help us?" Kai demanded brashly. "Sensei, that kunoichi somehow got onto the _Bounty _while we were _flying_. Nobody has that kind of skill but us! Do you know her? Is she another one of your pupils? Is this some sort of test?"_

_Wu shook his head. "I'm afraid that my knowledge has been exceeded this time around. I have not seen her before today."_

_"__Then explain _this_." Kai slammed something down on the table that sat between them. Cole's eyes lit up with recognition at the artifact, but Sensei Wu gave no inclination to such wisdom. Rather, the aging man leaned over to bear down on the object with a gaze of paramount. A whip lay before him, a soft golden light shimmering about its form. It looked to be roughly three meters full length, and almost three centimeters thick at its hilt. The tip frayed into metallic tips, and upon closer inspection, Wu could see nicks in the rough fabric all along its length._

_With an odd light in his eyes, Sensei Wu plucked the whip from the tabletop and brought it up close to his face. "Where did you find this whip, Kai?"_

_"__It's the kunoichi's," answered Kai shortly. "Jay took it away from her."_

_"__Sensei, it looks a lot like our golden weapons. You don't think..?" Cole shuffled closer._

_"__True, the weapon is golden-colored, but it is not one of _the _golden weapons; it only resembles one, as though to mock the real ones," said Wu decisively, laying the whip back down on the table. "Although, whoever might have crafted such a weapon has knowledgeable hands. This was not their first interpretation."_

_The boys' head shot up. "You mean there might be someone out there making fake golden weapons?" asked Cole._

_"__There is a fair chance," said Sensei Wu without meeting their eyes._

_"__Then we need to do something about it, Sensei!" Kai said urgently, stepping forward. "If they're making weapons and sending their wielders after us, it's better that we stop them now before they get too powerful!"_

_The man shook his head. "I don't want you lot rampaging half of Ninjago when you should be focusing on trying to prevent the rise of the Great Devourer. A divided mind is one that functions poorly."_

_"__But Sensei-!" began the two._

_"__GUYS?! A LITTLE HELP?!"_

_All three figures froze instantly. Kai and Cole looked at each other with growing dread. They recognized that yell all too well._

_"__Jay!" They turned and fled from the room, reaching for their weapons as they went._

_Sensei Wu heaved a sigh as he watched them go. "They'll learn to have patience sooner or later," he mumbled to himself, pouring a cup of tea and allowing his eyes to rest on the whip._

That whip was still laying untouched on the table. If Wu turned his eye to one side a bit, it almost looked as though the artifact's faint light was pulsing.

These new circumstances worried him more than he cared to let on, but now that his apprentices believed that he was fully turning everything over to them, he wouldn't go back on his word unless something went horribly wrong. In the past, he wouldn't have even bothered, but his students had matured recently and left him wondering if it were possible for them to do everything without him lifting a finger. The elemental four had already reached their true potential, so it wasn't impossible. If they could work together well enough to solve it, they would be one step closer to improving their group chemistry.

They would also be one step closer to the final battle.

**Cole's POV**

Since Kai and Jay are in the middle of one of their video game battles, I guess it's my turn. Zane, do you want- ...Zane? Lloyd? Guys..?

Huh. Okay then.

[clears throat]

In the end, Jay never came back with Zane, and after Kai found some chains and helped restrain her to the bed, he vanished as well.

"Just you and me, huh?" I sighed, pulling out my scythe and resting it in my lap. My eyes trailed over to the girl's form. She didn't look half as lethal when she was curled up on the covers like that. Granted, that fiery red hair of hers was a little odd; most people in Ninjago had dark hair, apart from a few blondes. She was a few centimeters shorter than Nya and as skinny as a pole- certainly not the normal appearance of one who could pack a punch. Then again, her speed was incredible. Throughout most of their fight against her, his eyes could barely keep up with her movements.

_"__The best way to defeat an enemy is to make them your friend." _Sensei's voice floated up out of the back of my mind.

Make _her _our friend? But it did work for Lloyd, so it was probably worth a shot.

Zel hummed softly in her sleep and rolled over onto her side.

I'd get right on that... as soon as she woke up.

**Zel's POV**

Do you really want _me _to do this? [Cole: I'm hungry and everyone else is busy, so yeah. Just keep it realistic.] Yes, master. [Cole groans: And don't start speaking in some weird language.] _Si, amo._[…] Okay, okay! I get it!

[…]

So... this is awkward. (Do I really just speak into this thingie here? Cole..? Guess so.)

Let's see, I suppose we're at the part where I wake up. Again. [sigh]

The next time a regained consciousness, the first thing that registered was the tingling sensation of having my wires crossed. Normally, that only happens when I get struck by lightning or some other powerful form of electricity, but that 'Jay' was the ninja of lightning.

Lovely.

A soft groan escaped my lips as my fingertips toyed with the covers. The musky scent told me that I had been returned to the same bed, but the weight tugging on my arms, legs, and stomach were new. My eyes opened slowly, blinking a few times to adjust to the light.

Yep. Same bed, same room.

A quiet sound to my left drew my eyes to the far side of the room. This time, I instantly recognized the black ninja from earlier; his mask was still drawn over his face. I sat upright suddenly and shrunk back against the wall, but the weight kept me from moving more than a few inches. I risked a swift glance down at the chains that pinned me down.

"You're the Ninja of Earth, right?" I asked in a low tone.

"Name's Cole," he said, his voice gruff. His fingers brushed over the designs carved into the golden scythe that lay in his lap. "And if you try any funny business..." He tapped the blade of his weapon for emphasis.

I fell back on the bed, limp.

Great. Just great. Instead of assassinating the target and hauling butt like planned, I was _captured _by the stupid ninja. Judging by the weight and tightness of the chains, with every escape attempt, they were learning more and more about me.

Not good.

On the bright side, Sparky wasn't here to zap me with his nunchucks.

"_Porque eso hace que sea aún mejor,_" I muttered under my breath, throwing an arm over my eyes. The cuff hit me full in the face and I jolted with a hiss. I heard Cole trying to muffle a chuckle in the corner.

Stupid ninja.

After a few minutes of seething silence, Cole piped up, "Why are you so gung-ho over Zane?"

Zane.

The name alone sent a flash of searing rage through my veins. So the ice ninja had a name after all... Well, he wouldn't be needing one for long.

Rule one: never reveal your plans.

I didn't respond.

Cole sighed.

This would be a long day.

**Lloyd's POV**

Finally! It's about time you guys let me speak! [Zel: Just don't tell Kai. He'll sic Jay on me.] Deal!

Okay, so anyways, the awesome Green Ninja was busy training on the deck when all of this stuff was happening in my old room. The last of the fangblades hadn't been found yet, but since Pythor had the map, it was only a matter of time. Cole was watching the kunoichi, Zane had disappeared, Jay was in Nya's room and was probably watching some sappy romance movie with her, and Kai was in the bridge with Sensei. In other words, I had the entire deck to myself.

"Ha!" I cried, nailing the dummy in the head with a kick. The machine hit the deck faster than you could say 'K.O.' On the down side, I didn't see the other piece of machinery that slammed into my back and sent me sprawling on the floor.

"Oww..." I rubbed my back and clambered to my feet.

"You should use your extra momentum to duck under the first enemy's arm in order to dodge a blow from the second. Even if you're only fighting one person, constant movement will help confuse him."

I jumped and whirled around, brandishing the wooden sword I'd been given to practice with. To my surprise, a young man was perched on the railing of _Destiny's Bounty_, his baggy clothing and shaggy hair flowing in the breeze. A popular brand of soda was advertised in neon yellow across his onyx T-shirt (nice) and a few of the many holes in his jeans were patched with orange and brown fabric. The man brushed his dark brown hair back from his face with a hand as he hopped down onto the deck.

"Uh, who are you, and how'd you get on?" I asked bluntly without lowering the sword.

"Jedediah Williams," he smiled with a lopsided bow, "at your service."

I laughed loudly. This guy was kinda funny.

"Sorry about boarding without permission, but I'm looking for someone and I thought that the ninja might be able to help me," said Jedediah, shoving his hands in his pockets. "This is their ship, right?"

"Yeah! I'm Lloyd, the Green Ninja!" I puffed out my chest. It was about time someone decided to know what I could do! "And Uncle's good at finding people. C'mon!"

I grabbed Jedediah's hand and drug him to the bridge. The man seemed a little surprised but didn't protest. Kicking down the door to the bridge, I yelled, "Uncle, there's somebody here looking for someone! His name's Jedediah Williams!"

Kai and Sensei Wu turned from the controls of the _Bounty_ and walked over to us.

"How did you get on this ship, young man?" asked Uncle, plucking his teapot from the table and pouring himself a cup.

Jedediah rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly and pulled a package out of his pocket. "The mailman didn't really want to flag you guys down while you were in the air, so I offered to bring this up to you myself since I was already looking for you."

Kai's eyes lit up, "I've been expecting that for _days!_"

"Who are you looking for?" Sensei Wu questioned.

"A girl who looks sixteen- maybe seventeen. Kinda short with red hair and gray eyes," said Jedediah.

I exchanged a look with Kai. That sounded a lot like Zel.

Without missing a beat, Uncle took a sip of tea and asked, "Why are you looking for her?"

"Well, her name's Zel, and she's my sister."

* * *

_Translations:  
Si, amo. (Yes, master.)  
__Porque eso hace que sea aún mejor. (Because that makes it all better.)  
_

_Ugh, I don't think I did Lloyd's POV very well. I'll probably rewrite that on a later date... Also, I apologize for my Spanish; it's a little rusty and I'm no where near fluent. Please don't hesitate to correct me!_


	3. Is to Make Them Your Friend

_The weather man tells me that I'll be back in school come Monday, so I guess I'll get this out there now. I would have updated Friday but Black Friday shopping pretty much drained me. XD At least I got some sweet deals! Furthermore into the oddities of my crazed life, all those lovely reviews you all shower me will not be able to be answered via PMs since my free time is limited; however, I _will_ communicate with you all as best I can in future author's notes like this one. (I've done it with my other stories, so I figure it shouldn't be too much trouble here. I hope this don't discourage readers from leaving me critiques.)_

_ForeverDreamer12__: Thanks! I was just looking at the other stories in this category and noticed that nobody had written a "recorded" piece, so I figured: why not? Hopefully, this chapter will answer your previous demands.  
_

_Lya200: Will do! ^^ It'll be difficult with my schedule, but I've planned for Nevermore to have shorter chapters than I usually write, simply because I'd like to try to update once a week minimum._

_NinjaBrony88891: Love your username, and thank you!_

_StoriesAreMagic__: I'm glad you find this interesting! I've tried to flavor the typical kunoichi-OC persona without venturing into Mary Sueism. Also, about your statement involving the ninja's future relationship with Zel, I'll refuse to confirm or deny it; anything I say would give away future chapters. ;)  
_

_I lack the necessary deeds to own Ninjago, and if I did... :3_

* * *

**Is to Make Them Your Friend**

**Kai's POV**

So this Jedediah Williams was Zel's sister, huh? My eyes narrowed as the newcomer handed over my package. A quick glance at the label showed me that it was indeed my long-lost present to myself, but that didn't mean I was about to be all buddy-buddy with the brother of the girl who was intent on giving my brother a painful ending. [Jay: That's not confusing at all.]

Sensei took a deep breath. "I believe she found us first."

Jedediah frowned. "What do you mean? Is she here?"

"Yes."

The man's eyes widened considerably. "She's _here?_ As in, on the ship 'here'?"

"Obviously..." I muttered, but didn't say anything else after Sensei Wu sent me a sharp look.

"So she's here... and you're okay with that?" asked Jedediah slowly.

"Not really. She goes a little nuts when we bring up a certain ninja," informed Lloyd, trying to appear casual.

Jedediah facepalmed and moaned softly. "The ice ninja, am I right?"

Sensei Wu nodded. "Correct. I would invite you to speak with her, but she is currently being restrained."

"I don't blame you. How 'bout this? If you give me ten minutes alone with her, I bet I can calm her down," Jedediah offered.

My eyes locked onto Sensei. He wasn't seriously going to consider this, was he? First, Zel shows up and started wrecking havoc, and now her "brother" drops in out of the blue and just wants a few minutes alone? Not happening.

"I believe that'll be fine."

"What?" I exploded. "But Sensei-!"

"Butts are for sitting," he said coolly. "Will you please escort Jedediah below, Kai?"

"...Yes, Sensei."

* * *

"Nice to meet you, Kai!" Jedediah shot me a broad grin. "Sorry about any trouble my sis might have caused. She can be a little unruly."

"Tell me about it!" Lloyd laughed.

I bit my lip to keep a sharp retort from becoming known. I don't know why the kid was so enthralled by this Jedediah person. His timing was too suspicious if you ask me. It reminded me too much of Lord Garmadon who was staying aboard the _Bounty_, wherever he was hiding himself. Anyways, I wasn't about to trust either of them.

When we reached Lloyd's room (I was still refusing to admit that the runt had been moved into our room; [Lloyd: HEY!]), I rapped my knuckles on the door. "Cole?"

"Yeah."

"Someone's here to see Zel."

A loud thud echoed from inside of the room. I frowned. "Cole? Is something wrong in there?"

The door slid open to reveal the black ninja. "Nope, why?"

I brushed past him into the room. Nothing looked out of place, but Zel had curled into the corner where the bed met the wall into a tight a ball as her chains would allow her. Her wide gray eyes peered just over Kai's shoulder, the horror in them as clear as day.

Jedediah followed with a hesitant smile. "Hey, sis."

"Jed, stay back," she snarled.

"Oh, great. Just when I was making progress," complained Cole, crossing his arms.

"Progress?" I shot him a glance.

"Getting a little crazy?" guessed Jedediah, motioning to her restraints as he moved closer to the bed.

"She was talking to me like any normal person," Cole glared at Jedediah. "Who's this?"

"Her brother, apparently," I said.

"Can I have a moment alone with Zel?" Jedediah looked straight at me with a slightly pleading expression.

"Don't you dare!" Zel began to thrash and tried to unsheathe her arm blades, to no avail. The cuffs covered the area just over their hiding place. "Don't leave him in here with me! You don't know what he's capable of!"

Jedediah cast his sister a forlorn look. "She's an android, you know, and it looks like her circuit board got fried. She's programmed to protect herself at all costs, not to attack your Ninja of Ice. It'll take me a matter of seconds to reset her, but I'd rather not have anyone else in here."

We ninja exchanged a look. Unlike Zane, who had memorized his entire system after he had found his blueprints, we had no idea how to do anything with Zel. In fact, I had honestly believed that Zel was sent specifically to kill our icy friend. Despite my hesitance, this was something that needed a clear mind to process, and I wasn't exactly that type of person.

[Jay: How many times do I have to tell you to stop trying to sound poetic? It just makes you sound like some old dude.]

[inhales deeply] Jay...

[Jay (innocently): What?]

Cole nodded at last. "C'mon, guys. Let's give them some space."

**Cole's POV**

Though no one's ever come out and said it, I'm pretty much the unspoken leader of the four elemental ninja when Sensei Wu isn't around. On the bright side, when it comes down to the nitty gritty, everyone looks up to me without admitting so. And on the down side, everyone looks up to me and pretends they don't. In other words, arguing amongst ourselves is fairly common in our group.

"I don't trust him," Kai said as soon as we slid the door shut behind us.

"Why not?" asked Lloyd, confused. "He seems pretty good, and he gave me some fighting tips!"

"I'm not saying we're the best of friends, but giving him the benefit of the doubt couldn't hurt," I pointed out, "and if he can get her to stop focusing on Zane..."

At that moment, a brilliant light exploded behind the door, closely followed by a loud screech. There was a series of clicks and then the door slid open.

"It's cool to come in now," Jedediah offered, ambling over to the bedside.

Kai stormed in ahead of me and glowered down at the figure on the bed. I followed suit, Lloyd close behind.

Zel was sitting on the bed, clutching her head and mumbling something in an odd language. "Ow," she said at last, looking up and tensed at the sight of the ninja.

"Are you done?" Kai directed the question at Jedediah, who nodded.

"Gee, thanks. You make me sound like some frozen dinner," Zel rolled her eyes.

"What was that all about?" I asked.

"Her faulty programming?" Jedediah waved a hand at his sister. "That would be my fault. You see, I tried to make her immune to a lot of things in nature- extreme cold, gravity, lack of air- but I sort of forgot electricity. She must have gotten struck by lightning again; it messes up her harddrive every time."

Zel shot Jedediah a puzzled glance, but her brother gave her a dark look in return. The girl looked as though she wanted to protest, but didn't.

"You made her?" Zane's voice echoed form the doorway as he stepped into the room. Instantly, Zel recoiled and flattened herself back against the wall, wariness flashing in her gaze.

"My father did," amended Jedediah. "You see, my mother died in childbirth so I never had any siblings. Dad decided that I shouldn't grow up alone, so he made me a sister to keep me company. He didn't tell me, but at the time he was dying from a poison that had infected him many years before. He knew he didn't have long to live, so he made someone to take care of me under I was old enough to take care of her."

"Oh..." Lloyd said softly. "I'm sorry about your dad."

Jedediah smiled sadly. "It's fine. It's been a few years since he died, and Zel and I have been managing ever since. Well, right up until last year."

"What happened last year?" I asked, probably more intrigued than I should have been.

"I was fishing in a lake and fell asleep. When the thunderstorm came a few hours later, the sound woke me up and I fell out of the boat. I can't swim, but Zel saved me, risking her own electrocution by throwing me onto the shore. The lake was struck by lightning before she could get out."

Zel rolled her eyes. "And while you're at it, you can also tell them about that one time at band camp and how many times you've gone to the bathroom in the past twenty-four hours. They don't need to know our life story, Jed."

"Heh heh. Oops." The man rubbed the back of his neck. "You feeling any better?"

"Peachy, but these chains are going to leave bruises."

Kai's eyes narrowed. I took a deep breath. The fire ninja wouldn't be too keen on letting the kunoichi loose, especially now that Zane was in the room.

"It is fine," the nindriod himself spoke up. "We will just have to tell Jay that he shouldn't use his nunchucks on her anymore."

Zel seemed to relax at the sound of the blue ninja's name. "Good idea. Where is Sparky, anyways?"

"Sparky?" Lloyd blinked.

"If he wants to call me Speedy, I get to call him Sparky," she said decisively.

Before anyone could say anything else, Nya's voice echoed over the intercom. "Guys! We have a problem!"

Kai shot me a pointed look, as if to say, _Don't you dare._

_"__The best way to defeat an enemy is to make them your friend."_

I sighed and pulled the key out of my pocket. "Zel, welcome to _Destiny's Bounty_."

**Zane's POV**

I could sense Kai's fury as the six of us made our way to the bridge. Jedediah made a point to walk between his sister and myself, the girl herself shooting me volatile looks the whole way. From the beginning, I knew that there had been something strange about her, and her arm blades had only confirmed that during the last half of the fight. However, there was something about Jedediah that I couldn't quite put my finger on...

Jay, already in the bridge, offered us a cheery wave when we entered, and then promptly screamed like a little girl. "Guys?! Serious problem on your six!"

"Relax, Sparky," sighed Zel. "Jedediah just flipped my annihilation switch."

"You have an annihilation switch?" I asked curiously. I knew that I had a funny switch that I usually left inactive, but I certainly didn't have a function that encouraged devastation.

Zel seemed to mold into her brother's shadow and gritted her teeth. Evidently, her mistrust towards me was genuine.

"And we're just letting her walk free?" Jay demanded, twitching awkwardly in place as though debating diving behind Sensei Wu or whipping out his nunchucks on the spot. Jedediah flushed at his words and shuffled his feet, mumbling another apology on his sister's behalf.

"I'm not happy about it either, but I think Nya wanted to tell us about more pressing issues," said Kai, taking long strides to reach his sister's side.

The girl nodded and punched a few buttons on the control panel. "According to the _Bounty's _radar, a Venomari soldier has been spotted roaming Ninjago City!"

"Is he alone?" Cole asked.

"Yes, but he might not be for long," Nya responded. "If you guys left now, you might be able to catch him before he regroups with the other Serpentine. Who knows? He might be able to tell us something about Pythor and the last fang blade."

"Well, let's go already! I've been itching to kick a little rear end for a while now!" Cole rubbed his hands together. Paired with his black clothing, he almost appeared to have turned evil.

"What about _them_?" asked Kai with another glare at the Williams.

"I believe I'm capable of watching over a few kids," purred a deep voice from the shadows. Both Jedediah and Zel dropped into defensive crouches as Lord Garmadon slipped from the shadows, a devious grin flashing.

"Where have you been, anyways?" Jay shuffled sideways away from Garmadon. "Not that I'm complaining."

"There were a few issues I needed to address in the boiler room," he replied coolly.

I frowned. "My schematics tell me that the _Bounty _does not have a boiler room."

"No matter."

Kai's eyes narrowed. Today was not the fire ninja's day.

"Who are you?" Zel eyed Garmadon spitefully.

The dark lord ignored the kunoichi as he sauntered over next to Sensei Wu, fingers laced behind his back. "The ninja can have a chat with our Venomari, but I don't mind staying here," he said innocently.

"We better get going if we want to catch this snake before any others show up," Cole adjusted his scythe in its sheathe.

"And leave Garmadon _and _Zel _and _Jedediah alone with my sister and Sensei?" Kai crossed his arms.

"They could go with you," offered Garmadon lightly.

Kai turned on him so fast that he almost fell over. I believe the saying is 'if looks could kill'...

"It's fine, Kai, but you must go quickly!" Sensei Wu ushered us out of the boiler room. "Good luck, ninja!"

"Luck?" snorted the fire ninja. "We'll need more than luck if we keep getting any more surprise visitors..."

I exchanged a look with Cole and Jay. Common sense told me that Kai was probably overreacting in accordance to his headstrong tendencies, but my sixth sense told me that his fiery personality just might be correct.

* * *

_Call me crazy, but I love writing Garmadon. Before Lloyd destroyed the evil within him, I think his theme song should have been Smooth Criminal.  
_

_Well, I'll try to have the next chapter up ASAP. I'm already halfway through chapter four, but it's a little longer than my previous pieces so I'll probably update again this upcoming Friday if I don't post it Tuesday. With finals just around the corner (next week, actually), I'll be a little pressed for time and generally distracted, but I won't forget about this, promise!_

_See you next chapter! ;)_


	4. Right?

_Alright! Let's get this pajama party started! First of all: BEWARE THE MASSIVE AMOUNT OF PLOT. No, really. The plot bunny FLOODED me during the week (you know, when I'm suppose to be focusing on my exams this week -_-), so I figured I'd let my creativity get productive. I hope I wasn't too poetic in this chapter (which I sorta sketched out the outline for during a poetry lesson in English)_. _On the bright side, I'm eight pages into the contents of the scroll Wu found back in chapter one! Unfortunately, I don't know when the poor guy will get to read it, since the whole Great Devourer thing is kind of distracting him. Anyways, I can't wait to show you all the products of my insanity! I hope you enjoy the latest installment in Nevermore!_

_Lya200: Zane cool or just cool? :3_

_Ridin' Shotgun: She's a character, so the others will get their very own nicknames pretty soon. And yep, I wanted Jedediah's name to stand out from the crowd. I mean, how many male OCs do we have floating around the fandom lately? I figured I might as well let him pack a punch._

_ForeverDreamer12: I swear you can read my mind... o.o I was just getting to that in this chapter._

_Sadly, I don't own Ninjago. :(_

* * *

**Right..?**

When Zel awoke the following morning, she was a little surprised by the lack of restraints, and then chastised her overly-adaptive behavior. She had always been told that she was too amiable for anything to insult or lead to concern her, not that the ninja had ever seen that particular side of her- and they certainly wouldn't see it now that her darling "brother" was here. Her hands clenched into fists as she glanced over to the mat next to her. Jedediah was laying spread eagle on top of the covers, snoring lightly. Granted, he _had _fixed her faulty switch, but the last time she had seen him...

_People change, _she reminded herself, pushing the covers aside. The thin sheet of sweat over her body told her that she must have gotten hot during the night but had been too stubborn to relinquish the blankets. She was in desperate need of a shower, but the layout of the ninja's ship was worse than any maze and being "directionally challenged" (as Jedediah called it) certainly didn't help her case. But there was no way under the sun that she would dare ask one of the ninja for help. Maybe she could talk to that girl, Nya.

Jedediah rolled over in his sleep and mumbled something about sheep. Zel couldn't help herself as she leaned over and brushed a strand of unruly hair back from her brother's face. He may have done certain things in the past, but they were siblings, so they were pretty much stuck with each other. No matter what happened, blood was thinker than water.

Even if that did mean she had to let him keep lying to the ninja.

* * *

After aimlessly wandering _Destiny's Bounty _for a good half hour, Nya came to the kunoichi's rescue and pointed the way to the bathroom, even being so kind as to lend her an extra outfit she had outgrown. The hot water did Zel a world of good, and she felt much better after a quick shower.

Dark gray eyes scanned her reflection in the mirror with an odd gleam. Nya's red kimono only brought out her fiery hair and made her eyes appear more lackluster than usual. Her curves- had she had any to begin with- were completely covered up by the baggy material, but the broad sleeves didn't look like they would catch on her arm blades like her ninja suit. Nya had forgotten to let her borrow shoes, but Zel didn't mind going barefoot. The cool boards tickled the softer skin of the kunoichi's feet and she regretfully noticed that the callouses had worn away; hopefully, she wouldn't step on anything anytime soon.

Zel stared at her double with a frown. It had been so long since she had worn regular clothing that this reflection was almost foreign to her. She looked more like a girl, and less like the ferocious warrior she was trying to become. It made her appear dainty, but looks were deceiving so she didn't mind too terribly.

A loud knocking at the door drew her out of her speculation with a jump. "You planning on staying in there all day?"

The kunoichi gritted her teeth at the sound of Jedediah's voice. Of course, he would pick now to wake up. "Maybe," she called, tying the ribbon around her waist. Zel strode over to the door and yanked it open, revealing a sleep-ridden young man.

"The ninja got back late last night. Pythor's looking on the other side of Ninjago for the fourth fang blade and there's gonna be some sort of showdown today where we go and get the other three," he said with a yawn.

Zel raised an eyebrow. "'We'?"

A smirk flitted across Jedediah's face, but it was gone so quickly Zel thought she might have imagined it. "You and me are staying here with Lloyd, his father, and Sensei Wu."

The kunoichi shuddered. Lord Garmadon was the weirdest person she had ever met, but he was the only person that that Kai ninja seemed to hate more than her. Personally, she was freaked out by his four arms. She almost had a heart attack when she walked in on him playing on the video game console as the first _and _second player; he offered to let her be third, but she learned just how quickly she could backtrack. "Where are they? The ninja, I mean?" she asked.

Jedediah jerked a thumb upwards. "They're getting ready. I'd stay out of there way if I were you. I don't know if you're back to normal or if we should give it a little more time, but I wouldn't risk you lunging at Zane and having four elemental weapons shoved in your face."

With a frown, the young woman watched as her brother made to shut the door, but paused.

"Hey, Zel. Do you remember what we talked about? You know, before you ran away?" he asked in an undertone.

The kunoichi drew back sharply. "You think?" she hissed.

A dark light ignited in Jedediah's colorless eyes. "Everything's going according to plan."

"Last I looked, the plan didn't involve you babying me!"

Jedediah chuckled, smirking, and patted Zel's shoulder. "Oh, Griselda. There's so much about Ninjago you have yet to learn. I'm sorry about keeping you from the rest of the world all those years, but I assumed that was behind us. Don't worry, sis. As soon as we finish our business with the ninja, I'll take you out for ice cream."

With that, he slammed the door in her face.

"That little-!" Zel seethed. If only he hadn't welded her panel shut, she just might be tempted to turn her annihilation switch back on and show him how much she knew about the world.

If only Jay hadn't accidentally reactivated her emotional harddrive when he had shocked her that first time.

* * *

The kunoichi watched through the porthole leading out onto the deck as Sensei Wu instructed the ninja. Kai was fighting blindfolded, Cole was wiggling out of a net, Jay was doing one-handed handstands and twirling his nunchucks, and she couldn't tell what Zane was doing. Were his eyes glowing..?

"They always like to get warmed up before a fight when they can manage it." Nya's soft voice floated up from further down the hallway. The samurai slowly approached the kunoichi as she joined the latter by the doorway. Out of the corner of her eye, Zel could see that she had already suited up, and that her machine-like contraption was waiting for her just outside.

"You're going too?" asked Zel quietly.

"Yep! Going into the belly of the beast. They'll need all the help they can get." The girl offered Zel a smile as she swept out the door.

_The belly of the beast? _wondered Zel. First, Jedediah mentioned a showdown, and now Nya was assisting the ninja? And after Kai made a big deal about women warriors...

The kunoichi's brow furrowed as she attempted to find her way back to her room. It took a few minutes, but she didn't get lost too terribly. As soon as she entered, Zel fell face-first onto her bed and let out a long sigh. For some reason, the girl felt twitchy, like there was something she really needed to tell someone but had forgotten. Whatever the cause of the feeling, it certainly felt important.

"Zelda, you ready?"

The arm blades were out before Zel was up on her feet. Seeing who stood in the doorway, she dropped her arms but didn't sheathe the blades.

"You shouldn't sneak up on me like that," she grumbled at Jedediah, who was dressed in dark clothing. She recognized the thick battle gear all too easily- the obsidian leather that clung to his form like a second skin, the slits in the material that served as pockets, the broad belt securing his vyblade, the steel-toed boots whose high tops masked the outline of kunai knives and mini shurikens. Her brother wasn't dressed for battle.

He was dressed for war.

"And don't call me Zelda," she added, trying to shake off the chills that ran the length of her body.

Jedediah winked and pulled something from one of the slits in his gear: her whip. Her mouth dropped as he tossed her the glowing weapon. "Would you rather I called you Zena?"

"Where did you get this?" Zel demanded, looping her whip around her waist and tucking it under the kimono's sash to hide it from wandering eyes. "And why are you dressed like that? When did you-"

"One question at a time, sis," Jedediah held up his finger. "First of all, the ninja were keeping your whip from you because they don't trust you. I say that if we're allowed to walk free around the ship, we should get to keep our weapons. Secondly, didn't I just tell you that the ninja were going after the three fang blades that Pythor has? They may want to keep me here with that green-clad kid and his family, but it's been ages since I've had a good fight, and we're suppose to be fighting snakes. Also, I'm kinda curious to see Ninjago's pride and joy in action."

"So you're going with them?"

"Nope. I'm gonna follow them from a distance and come in when things start to get a little messy," the man yawned and rolled his shoulders a few times, "and so are you."

Zel palmed her forehead out of pure aggravation. "Are you _stupid?_ What's gotten into you? You know good and well that these people are only letting us stay aboard their ship because they're too preoccupied with these 'fang blades' to really focus on us. The minute we draw their attention, we're dead!"

Jedediah tightened his belt with a solid tug. "Which is why I'm going to kill them first."

**Sensei Wu's POV**

How interesting... What a clever device. Did you make this, Jay?

[Jay: Sure did!]

Do you all really want my old bones to add to your... story?

[All: YES!]

[Cole: Please, Sensei!]

Alright, then. Let's see. Where were we..?

[Lloyd: We were at the part where we were sneaking into the Mountain of a Million Steps getting ready to steal back the fang blades!]

My students were finally ready. However, ready for what, I knew not. The blades were heavily guarded, and there were likely to be protected by intricate traps and puzzles. On the off hand that we were chasing smoke, Lloyd would remain on the _Bounty _with my brother. He was far too precious to be risked in such a matter.

Yet despite everything that had transpired as of late, my mind couldn't help but to drift to the scroll I had left in the storage room. I had not returned to its hiding place since its discovery out of fear that Garmadon would somehow learn of its existence. Knowing my brother, he would be hesitant to face his son in battle, regardless of prophecy, and would be looking for any and all ways to prevent the final battle. Should one scroll seem significant in my eyes, he might try to swipe it out from under our noses. Though he was my brother, and he was undoubtedly here for Lloyd, a part of me was still wary that the evil inside of him was corrupting him more and more each day. I knew not how long I could continue to trust my brother aboard _Destiny's Bounty_, but I feared that the day of his betrayal was drawing nearer.

(Like that?)

[Kai: Pretty good, Sensei! Keep going!]

Sitting "shotgun" in my seat on the Samurai X suit, I sipped my tea as my students departed into the darkness of the mountain's caverns. Their bickering echoed all around the cave, but I was more intrigued by the designs carved and painted onto the walls all around us. Some of them were pictures that resembled things from the frozen forests atop the southern mountains to the ninja themselves. In a darker portion of the room were a few carvings of a large snake rising above the rest: the Great Devourer before his downfall. If I didn't know better, I would have said that a few of the scribbles around the arched ceiling and floor seemed hauntingly familiar.

A sudden tremor drew my eyes to my pupils, all of whom were standing around an ever-growing passage with wide eyes.

"I meant to do that," said Cole with a sheepish grin.

Without another word, we raced into the tunnel.

(I believe that's a sufficient place to stop as any.)

[All: What? Nuh uh!]

(Oh no, now is fine. Carry on, you all. I just remembered that there is something in the bridge I need to check...)

**Zel's POV**

Me again? I swear you're just using me as an excuse to be lazy. [Jay: Pfft! Of course not!] Whatever you say, Sparky. [Kai: Are you going to keep stalling, or should I go?] No, you guys practically shoved the mic down my throat, so I'll go. Wait your turn. [Kai: hmph]

...And of course they want me to do this part. [sigh]

I stared at Jedediah, whether paralyzed by shock, uncertainty, or plain lack of active gray matter, I'll leave that up to you. The emotional section of my CPU must have been glitchy from all of Sparky's electrocution jobs, because my sensors were being overloaded by a vast multitude of indistinguishable feelings. Though my annihilation switch was turned off, I could feel it twitch inside of me, as though longing to flip itself and assist my brother in his slaughter, but my bombarded hard drive was screaming at me to decrease power to my sensors- like that was the problem. I couldn't flip any switch even if I wanted too, not since my motherboard was secured behind welded steel.

"Why?" was the only question to leave my slack jaw.

Jedediah took a deep breath. "I just told you why, Zel. Pay attention. The ninja don't trust us, and they never will, not with my connections. Even if I severed them now, it wouldn't matter."

"What connections?" I demanded, though my tone sounded more detached than threatening. "I know you never had the cleanest hands growing up, but don't just show up out of the blue after all of this time, _lie _to these people, threaten to _kill _them, and then tell me it's all to cover your own ass!"

A disappointed frown flickers over Jedediah's face as his eyes land on my midriff. "That lightning ninja got you good, didn't he? Your emotions are back online. I can tell. You normally aren't so passive."

"Passive?" I spat, jerking a bladed arm up from where it had been previously limp at my side. "You're calling me _passive_?! Dad made me to protect you and you turned me into a killing machine! LITERALLY! The only reason I'm here is because that stupid annihilation switch got flipped on accident and I came after the person I was programmed to! No planning! No forethought! Nothing! After all this time, Jed, and you're still the same selfish brat I left all those years ago!"

"Exactly! You left me!" Jedediah's eyes were blazing furiously as the vyblade seems to materialize in his hand. I shrank back, but didn't yield my stance. "I was fifteen with no family and hardly any friends and _you left me_!"

"Whose fault was that?! Dad made me to stand between you and hardship, but you brought all of that down on yourself when you altered me! You eliminated my compassion to make room for the apathy needed to _not care _when I killed someone! You had to make sure that I wouldn't feel anything, because God knows that your body guard might feel a twinge of _guilt _every now and then!" My voice was growing louder with every sentence, but I didn't care if we were overheard. This was long overdue. "Nobody needed to die, Jed, but no! You had to have it your way! You had to have your stupid revenge! I left you because you were a monster and it had taken me seven years to realize it! When I left, you were a lost cause."

I took a deep breath to steady myself. Jedediah was staring at me with a mixture of monotonous despair. I found myself wondering how humans could pull off such impossible facial expressions without revealing the darkness of their hearts.

"Besides," I added in a whisper, "you never payed me any attention anymore. You were too concerned with making more androids, more servants that would follow your every command without hesitation. You didn't need me. Griselda Williams had died long ago, for all you cared."

"Zel," he said softly. "I never meant to hurt you, and I didn't forget about you! I just wanted us to be happy! Those kids harassed us and I could tell it was hurting you. _That's _why I turned off your emotions; I didn't want you to feel the pain. I was human. The pain couldn't be 'turned off,' so I did what I could for you."

"Liar." I swallowed uneasily. "You're just making up more excuses, just like you always have. You've been an impulsive liar since the beginning. I should have realized that when you told the ninja that sob story." I shook my head. "I can't believe they accepted it without question."

"Zel, Griselda... sis... Please believe me. I've missed you so bad," his voice was barely a whisper. "I messed up, I know, but I never wanted this to happen to you."

"Then why did you program me to kill Zane?" my tone soured.

Jedediah sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "The ninja are strong as a whole, but they have individual weaknesses. The only reason I took an interest in making more androids like you was so that I could make one specifically to destroy each ninja. With them out of the way, Ninjago would need new saviors, and if I became the savior... Well, no one would look down on me anymore, would they?"

I drew back with narrowed eyes. This was my brother as he truly was: flawed. "You say that yet think we can still have a happy reunion? I thought you might have changed. I was actually considering giving you a second chance. But then you go and tell me this?" I took another step back, my other blade slowly sliding out of my arm. "I'm Jedediah, but I won't let myself be controlled by you. Not now, not ever."

The man blinked a few times, eyes closed, with a melancholy expression. "And if I told you that I would kill with or without you?" I had to strain to hear his words.

"You were my brother once, but these people have done nothing to you," I said softly. "If you turn your blade against them, I won't hesitate to stop you."

He nodded. "Very well. You were right. Griselda Williams is as good as dead. My sister would never abandon family."

Ebony flashed before my vision and I backflipped away from the vyblade as Jedediah swept it towards me in an arc. He had gotten faster since the last time I had seen him fight, but he was still slow in comparison to me. Regardless, I could still make out the curling patterns scored into the vyblade's length: the symbols that always kindled a frantic terror into my heart.

I remembered that sword all too well.

As soon as it began to vibrate in his hands, I knew that my struggle was in vain. Instead of trying to fight, I dove for the door. At the time, I knew I was faster and was positive that I would make it, but Jedediah's skill had improved more than I dared to imagine. Before my hand could touch the doorknob, something snagged my ankle and I tripped, slamming into the wooden door and sliding down the grains. Even if the ninja were still aboard- they surely would have left to go on their mission- the only person who might have been able to hear me was Lloyd (who wouldn't stand a chance against the vyblade) or Lord Garmadon (who would probably grab some popcorn and a front-row seat).

The blades in my calves slid out and I lashed out with a kick that would have easily taken off a grown man's arm, but the enemy I was fighting wasn't a man. What coiled around my foot was neither living nor dead, and certainly didn't have severable appendages. Rather than removing what grappled with my ankle, all I seemed to do was bring a smile to Jedediah's face.

Dark fog spiraled up my leg and a cold chill swept throughout my entire body as it climbed higher. With a soft cry, I tried to pull away, but the mist tightened its grasp, now borderline painful. With hopeless desperation, I jerked my whip from my waist and snapped it at Jedediah. Apparently, he wasn't expecting me to think up a worthwhile attack and the weapon slashed clean through the back of his hand. My brother dropped the vyblade with a howl and the blade clattered to the floor. I kicked it into the corner of the room before he could recover. As soon as the vyblade left Jedediah's hand, its fog retreated back into the hilt.

I leaped to my feet and bowled down the door in my frantic attempt to escape. My hit was a lucky blow. Jedediah wouldn't make the same mistake twice.

My feet pounded as I raced down the hallway, my breathing ragged and my head whipping around as I searched for the door that makes the stairwell leading to the deck. Forget about protecting the ninja.

It would be a miracle if I got out of this alive.

**Lord Garmadon's POV**

I can't believe I'm doing this... [Zel: You and me both.] Do I have to?

[Lloyd: C'mon, Dad! Please?]

Fine. Just don't expect me to sugar-coat it.

"I'm trying to help, Nya! Just... hold on!"

My son's cries drew my eyes back to him as he whaled away on the control panel. _Destiny's Bounty _gave a precarious shudder as Lloyd frantically stabbed at the buttons with trembling hands.

_My son..._

I turned away with a deep sigh. It was only natural for him to shove me away- I left him all those years ago, and now, it was his destiny to stand against me. Just as evil ran in my veins, his own blood discriminated my being. Lloyd was a boy with a pure heart, but he was the Green Ninja, and not even he could refuse his calling. But even though he was destined to rise up and defeat me, I couldn't have been more proud of my son.

"You will make a fine man some day," I murmured under my breath.

My feet thudded dully on the steps as I descended to the deck. The Great Devourer's bite turned me against my brother, and my son against me. I could feel the darkness coursing through myself, but seeing Lloyd again had helped tame it. For the time being, I was still in control, but that vigilance wouldn't last much longer. I knew that Lloyd would try to save his friends, but my son was far from his true potential. His failure would be devastating to the entirety of Ninjago. Should the Great Devourer be unleashed, not a soul would prove powerful enough to stop the destruction of the world. That snake destroyed any future I might have had, but I wouldn't let it do the same to my son.

I had to help Lloyd.

"_Mmph-!_"

A deep scowl found its way onto my face as something squished beneath my foot. I glared down at the deck, only to see something more entertaining than I could have possibly imagined. The little kunoichi was bound and gagged, chained to the railing at the bottom of the stairs, a stream of dark liquid trickling down her face from a jagged laceration at her hairline. She wore a slashed kimono stained with umber patches and a look of pure horror that faded once she recognized me. Then the look turned deadpan.

"Having fun?" The corners of my mouth curled up.

The girl's eyes narrowed.

"Oh, silly me. You can't answer." Smirking, I leaned over and ripped the duck tape from my mouth. Instantly, coughs rattled her small form and droplets of oil splattered onto the wooden panels of the deck.

"It's a trap," she wheezed.

"We know," I couldn't help the grimness that seeped into my tone.

Confusion riddled her gaze as she studied me. "Aren't you going to help them?"

Instead of answering her outright, I said, "Not if you're having more fun here. How did you know it was a trap?"

"Jedediah works for Pythor. He didn't seek the _Bounty _to find me; he wanted to meet the ninja face to face, and I was just his excuse. He's on his way there now to release his army of androids on the ninja. Paired with the rest of the Serpentine, they don't stand a chance."

So Jedediah was a traitor? That little fire ninja was right all along. However, this meant a serious change in plans. After all, if the kunoichi's brother was attacking the ninja, and Lloyd was one of them now...

I bore down on the kunoichi with a smoldering gaze. "You knew all of this and didn't say a word?"

Her eyes met mine without flinching. "I couldn't say anything to anyone, not even privately. The Ninja of Earth, Cole, told me about how you were banished to the Underworld, so you know what I'm talking about when I mention half-lives. My brother has a sword- the vyblade... You can probably fill in the blanks."

A half-life.

How long it's been since I heard someone mention those wretched souls. No one had breathed a word about them since I escaped. Then again, no one living knew about them.

"This Jedediah is in possession of a half-life?"

She nodded. "And my whip."

Well... this certainly took a turn for the worst. There way definitely no way I could abandon Lloyd and my brother now, not even those pesky friends of theirs. If a half-life had been freed from the Underworld, the Serpentine would be the least of this world's worries. If one were to add in the Great Devourer to the mix, the combination between the two would ultimately destroy all of life as we know it, not just the world.

There was only one thing left to do.

"You're coming with me," I growled. One of my arms snagged a spare sword from the rack secured to the bridge and sliced through the chains with inept precision. The girl made quick work to untangle herself from the web of restraints and kicked the last of them to one side.

"When you say that I'm coming with you, do you mean into the Mountain of a Million Steps?" she inquired suspiciously, inspecting her internal blades one by one but keeping me in her peripheral the entire time.

"No," my voice reverberated deep in my chest as I spun the sword and pictured running the blade through anyone who dare harm my son. "We're going to the Underworld."

**Zel's POV**

Again? Twice in one segment? [sigh] Okay, you can stop with the bribery. What do you want this time? [Lloyd: Nothing! Well, actually-] Nevermind... [Garmadon: I believe I hear Halo calling my name. Son, would you like to join me?]

[Lloyd: But Kai says I gotta watch Zel...]

[groans under breath] For the last time, I don't need to be watched! What am I going to do? Turn this thingamabob into some sort of weapon and try to use it against you if I lose my mind? [Garmadon: That's one idea.]

Ugh, fine. I'll be a good little girl and sit still and try to keep my inner Hulk tamed. Feel free to stare impulsively when needed.

[…]

Really? No Marvel fans in the room?

[Lloyd: I like DC.]

...I feel the need to shun you now. But Batman _does _have the best villains. [Lloyd: I know, right!]

Anyways... where were we? Oh, yeah. That.

The Underworld.

"So, would you like to share your thoughts? Not that I mind trekking off into the middle of the forest without rhyme or reason," I arched an eyebrow. Padding after the dark lord like a lost puppy felt a little odd, but a sharp look over his shoulder sent a shudder through my body. No one's eyes should be that red. "Why are we here again?"

The hand clutching the sword twitched ever so slightly. "Getting our hands on traveler's tea will take too long, and since I can't summon a dragon with a snap of my fingers, we're doing this _the fun way_."

The fun way? Did he honestly mean that there was a _fun _way to get to the _Underworld_? So far, my ideas all added up to one painful death or another, unless he was a fan of skydiving without a parachute. Then again, my travels between realms were kind of limited considering that death, near death, or experiences similar to death were required- and since I wasn't too interested in my devising my own demise... Needless to say, the gleeful darkness that seeped into his tone in the last few words made me seriously question our sanity; him for being that way, and me for following him.

Lord Garmadon suddenly ground to a halt and I had to hop sideways to avoid crashing into him. A glance to the side revealed that the man was leering down at a pile of leaves, so either the man had lost his mind-

Garmadon quickly bent over and started ripping away at the underbrush. Within seconds, the beginnings of a vehicle of some sort were starting to take shape.

-or there was something he wasn't telling me, and I was about to find out.

At least the basis for his lessened normality didn't include him dragging me out into the middle of nowhere for no reason. Hopefully, the vehicle was a reason. Hopefully.

Grunting contentedly, the man leaned back to admire his work. I blinked a few times and focused hard on the thing, but ever time my eyes refocused, it just kept getting weirder and weirder.

It was a vehicle, yes, but it was unlike any car or truck I've ever seen. It resembled some sort of motorbike, roughly nine meters in length, with its engine resting just in front of its enormous hide wheel. The body curved up and latched onto an impressive suspension system that stretched out to its fore-wheel. There was no seat, just a platform to stand on, and the only thing that might protect you from falling were the two wide elephant tusks arched over the back wheel. Might I also mention that the entire structure of the vehicle, albeit the engine, was made of bone?

"What is that?" I asked blatantly.

"It's one of the skeleton's bikes from the Underworld. It seemed to have lost its rider, so I had it stored here for safekeeping if I ever needed to return," he said. After a moment's inspection, he hopped onto the platform and turned the key that had been left in its ignition. The bike sputtered a few times, but it didn't the engine long to settle into a gentle purr.

I clambered onto the platform behind Garmadon and gave the machine a good once over. The driver could use the handlebars for support, but all I had was the skeletal perch on which I stood. Huffing, I plopped down and wrapped my arms around one of the elephant tusks. So long as we didn't hit a bump, I should be fine.

"Don't fall off," was the only thing the dark lord had to say as he revved the engine and the motorbike leaped forward.

Wind whipped me from side to side but I sank my one of the blades in my leg into the tusk as I wrapped the limb around it. Trees blurred my vision from the sides, and all I could hear was the gale howling in my ears and the dark chuckle from Garmadon when he twisted the handle at a sharper angle. Inertia's drag threatened to yank me from the bone-yard bike every time Garmadon swerved to avoid the larger trees, but I managed to hold on. At some point, I realized that things weren't blurred because we were going fast, but that our speed had increased to the point that all colors had blended together to form a solid wall. I knew it wasn't tangible, but that didn't make the illusion any less apparent. Some strange part of me longed to reach out to see if it were possible to touch it- I had never achieved such high velocity before- but I liked my limbs to remain attached to the rest of me, and thus adhered against it.

A deep chuckle from the designated driver drew me out of my stasis as he gunned the throttle once again. The bike lunged forward eagerly and I was pitched backwards. Hissing under my breath, I wrapped my other leg around the tusk and sank its blade into it as well. Of course, the dark lord would be a maniacal driver. That just _had _to come with the territory.

It wasn't long before I began to notice something odd about the wall of colors that shot past us. The hues were more of a dark violet than anything and it almost seemed as though...

Suddenly, the bike bolted forward with another phenomenal burst of energy. A gasp caught in my throat as a swirling mass of pastel shades yawned before us, enlarging with every nanosecond as we flew towards it. The bells and whistles went off in the back of my mind, but my newly-activated emotions were having a field day. Namely panic, fear, terror- you know, the usual. In the end, when Lord Garmadon let out a dark laugh, all I could do was cling to the elephant tusk for dear life and watch as the vortex swallowed us whole.

* * *

_I don't know what it is with my computer, but it keeps insisting that Garmadon's name is Armageddon. . Also, his POV was HARD. Writing the guy is fun, but trying to come up with all of the rhymes and reasons behind his actions is like trying balance on your head at the top of a light pole. (Not that I've actually tried that, or anything.)  
_

_So, half-lives. I presume you all know about ghosts and poltergeists- paranormal stuff like that. A half-life is sort of my take on the things that go bump in the night in the Ninjago universe. Think of a vengeful spirit, now think of them is an irate vengeful spirit who's been trapped inside of a weapon that's capable of giving them form. Now you're getting the picture. See why Zel was terrified of the vyblade? It wasn't that creepy mist reached out and grabbed her, but she can't kill something that's technically dead already, especially when it's practically a shadow. If you still don't get it, don't worry. Garmadon and Zel's trip to the Underworld will cover more than a few things you'll need to know later on, half-lives included._

_And yes, I did just make my male OC evil, but that was the plan from the very beginning. ;) In reality, Jedediah wasn't suppose to come in until chapter seven, but I realized that the plot sort of required everyone to know the truth behind Zel, and since the kunoichi in question wasn't going to talk, I needed someone a little more loquacious to spill the beans. So Jedediah got to make an extremely early appearance._


	5. Faster Than Thought

_Finished this Monday night, edited all day Tuesday, and then started working on chapter six... and I more or less forgot to post this last night. -_- Gotta love my memory; sometimes, I think it's made of Swiss cheese. ANYWHO-! Here's chapter five in all its glory. As much as I wanted to continue it, I'm trying to keep the chapters of this story shorter than I'm use to for my own convenience as well as your own, but it feels weird to have a chapter average less than 7,000 words minimum. I guess I'm just odd like that._

_ForeverDreamer12: Oh, dear... I'm so sorry that you have to put up with all that goes on inside my head. Please refrain from suing if my insanity is contagious; I deny all blame. o.o_

_Ridin' Shotgun: You know, I never thought about that! All I know is that Sensei Wu said something like that in All of Nothing._

_Zane-Ice-Fairy: Aww, thank you! ^^_

* * *

**Faster Than Thought**

It was dark when Zel awoke, dark and hot. She could feel rivets of sweat long-since formed on her skin, their tracks tracing the outlines of her sluggish form. Her breath seemed heavy in her mouth and her arms trembled precariously when she tried to push herself into a sitting position. For some reason, the gears in her stomach seemed to be locking up, and she felt as though the oil in her veins was boiling her alive. Tired eyelids refused to open, so she remained blind in her struggle. All around her, she could hear the clanking of metal striking metal and the chatter of pitched voices. There was something pressed into her leg, cold and damp, but the object felt foreign.

Forcing herself to take a deep breath of the humid air, Zel pried her eyes open and waited for them to focus. Above her appeared to be some sort of brown cloth ceiling- a tent? After a minute of trying to decipher the exact make and model of her surrounding, she determined that nothing would do her any good without attempting to do more than blink.

It took her another few minutes to sit up without collapsing, but she managed to lock the joints in her elbows and wrists. Weary eyes wandered over the insides of the tent. She was laying on the bare ground with nothing else in the one-person tent, albeit the wet washrag that lay under her right knee. Her body was void of visible damages, but for some reason, her body wasn't working properly.

The Underworld.

Zel jumped at the mere thought as her memories came rushing back to her. The bike, Garmadon, the ninja's attack, Jedediah's revelation, being chained to a bed, launching herself onto the _Bounty_... At least she knew now, but did she understand?

Frowning deeply, Zel hunched over and wobbled as she pushed herself to her feet. Taking small, feeble steps, the kunoichi hobbled over to the flap of the tent and pushed it aside.

Her eyes flew wide open.

Floating islands dotted the scene before her. Each island was connected to its neighbor by trepidatious wooden bridges, each varying in length and width to accommodate the needs of those crossing it. Built into and on top of these impossible lands were immense structures carved from something dark or huddled together to form disfigured buildings. Off to one side lay what appeared to be a vertical fortress that towered over the other edifices, large spikes lining its sharp rooftop. Skeletons marched across these grounds, and it was they who had been making such a racket. Zel watched, half in awe, half in shock, as these creatures strutted about like they owned the place. The place, of course, being the masses that hovered about a pit of fire. As far down and out as Zel could see, there was no end to the flames. At the edges of her vision, she thought she could see the edges of a broken-down wall that might have once stood around the place, but fire danced on its surface now, and all detail was conformed in the heat.

"The Underworld..." Her voice was a breathless whisper that ended in a cough. Dark liquid splattered a few dainty drops into her palm, but Zel was a little more preoccupied with her current situation that her malfunctioning system. What Jedediah had done to her was far inferior in comparison to being trapped in this place.

Narrowed gray eyes peered around the Underworld, but Lord Garmadon was nowhere no be found. Could he have left? Would he have? It wouldn't surprise her, really. Stupidity killed the cat, but curiosity was framed.

Why did she have to be so receptive?

"Idiot..." she hissed, fury at herself causing her form to tremble. Fine. If she was to be the stupid little girl whose mindlessness always got her into trouble, then so be it. She could only hope that the world was ready for her, because if she was to be stupid, then by golly she would take a hike far from this tent where she awoke. That way, if Garmadon ever did come looking for her, she would be long since gone.

Sounded like a plan to her.

The redhead ran a quick scan of herself before departing. The scan continued to report her status as Zel slipped past the skeletons on silent feet. All of her blades were functional, but her equilibrium was still wayward and she felt off-balance without her whip. The few seconds she had held it in her palm just reminded her of how much stronger she was with the golden extension of her arm. She wasn't just an assassin; she was an artist. With every flick of her wrist, the whip obeyed her command with inept precision. She never missed, and her whip was made from a foreign material that was impossible to be cut by anything less than the hardest diamond-edged blade. At times, she felt as invincible as her weapon, but now that the golden glow was vacant from her waist and on that crate over there...

Zel froze, her head snapping around to stare at the back of the truck. Before, she hadn't a clue as to where she might go without her guide, but as soon as her eyes landed on the whip, a sense of comprehension washed over her like a gentle ocean wave.

How could her whip be here? Jedediah had taken it with him when the vyblade had finally tracked her down. That whip couldn't possibly be in the Underworld... unless her brother had brought it down himself.

Warning alarms let out a screeching cry in her head but she silenced them quickly. It was a little late for the bells and whistles, but it was a nice thought.

Zel glanced around quickly. She was still on the same island on which she had awoken and the skeletons had moved onto another floating island farther down the chain towards the fortress, leaving the idling truck behind. Her luck couldn't possibly be this good, unless it was a trap.

Oh, well.

Zel dashed over to the back of the truck and yanked the whip off of the crate. The kunoichi swiftly tied it around her waist, but the contented sigh that she wanted to release caught in her throat as soon as her fingers touched the coiled weapon.

Sure, it was a glowing golden whip- how many of those do you come across on a daily basis?- but this was not _her_ whip. The handle was too broad, the length too long, and the weight too light for its volume. Still, it was better than no whip.

**Thank you for making me feel like a third-rate fool**.

The girl spun around, fingertips brushing the whip at her midsection, but saw no one. In fact, the island was looking pretty vacant to her.

**_Hello~_ Down here, sweetheart.**

Blinking sharply a few times, Zel manually accessed her database and checked her CPU. Either there was a glitch in her system or she sensors were malfunctioning. How could there be a voice without a person?

**Why be a person when you can be a belt?** The voice was arrogant and masculine, with just a touch of pride.

A belt...

Zel jerked the whip off of herself and eyed it cautiously. "Are you talking?" she muttered to the weapon, feeling incredibly stupid.

**Sure.**

The kunoichi almost locked up. A talking whip? What was next, the skeletons suddenly forming a circle around her and singing Welcome to the Family?

**Hey, before you faint could you do me a favor and not accidentally lob me over the side of the island like the last person who picked me up. God, _that _was a real pain to get out of...** the voice (the whip..?) grumbled.

"There must be an error in my processing unit," Zel told herself firmly. She would address the issue as soon as she found a more private location.

**Processing unit? Oh jeez, don't tell me you're some psycho who thinks they're some alien, or something.**

"What are you? How are you talking to me?" Zel ducked down behind the truck and pulled the whip close to her face.

**Well, you seem to be living, even in a place of the dead, so I'm guessing you're not familiar with the term 'half-life,' or anything relating to that, really. Not that I am one, but that's as accurate to the truth as this language can get.**

Zel's oil ran cold. For a moment, the chill was welcomed in a place of such heat but lost its virtue soon. "Impossible..."

**Oh, I assure you, I'm possible. **The voice never lost its casual tone all throughout,** Although, I do have to say that I'm intrigued by you, my little psychopath. Not many of the living know of my kind or those like it. So, sweetheart, you got a name?**

The kunoichi slammed the whip into the ground and snarled under her breath, "Not one I'm willing to let be disgraced by the likes of you! You think I don't know what you are?! Do you honestly believe that I'm so stupid that I don't know what you're capable of?!"

**Whoa, slow down, missy! You've got it all wrong!** the voice laughed.

"Do I now? Then by all means," she spat, "enlighten me."

**You just assume that all us half-lives are spirits of the dead who force a deal with one of the living. In exchange for them granting us tangible forms in Ninjago, we allow them to mold our new-found abilities into whatever they please,** if Zel had been a little less sane, she would have sworn she saw the whip twinkle as though winking at her.** In actuality, only some of us are like that, but 'some' is enough to give our entire species a bad name.**

"Liar. You're just saying that because you hope I'm stupid enough to make a contract with you! Well guess what? I know that you're worthless so long as the person who wields you forces your soul to remain inside of the weapon! As long as I'm touching you, you can't take on your shadow form and wreck havoc all over hell and half of Georgia!" the kunoichi scowled down at the whip.

**Really now?** the voice sounded bored now. **My apologies, sweetheart, but where are my manners?**

The whip began to vibrate in Zel's hands and the girl's eyes widened moreso. Impossible! A half-life wasn't capable of overriding their wielder's wishes!

Before the kunoichi could prepare herself, dark fog unfurled from the tip of the whip and spread out over the ground around her. The shadows of the truck morphed with Zel's own and the mist, curling end over end in a grotesque dance that spiraled up from the ground. An unsheathed arm blade slashed at the shadowed form, but the arm went straight through the smoke without resistance.

"No way..."

It was then that she noticed something odd about the shadows. They weren't just taking shape, but they had _color _as well. This half-life's form wasn't just darkness. As she continued to watch, paralyzed in horror, the colors sharpened into vibrant shades and with a soft flash of gold light, a man crouched before her. His colorless hair spiked out from his head as though he had stuck his finger in a light socket and glowing magenta orbs gleamed through the snow-white strands. He wore a soft gray tank top, baggy jeans, and silver socks with blue polka-dots. His smile only turned up on one side of his mouth and a fresh scar spanned the length of his right arm. As Zel continued to watch, the man wiggled his fingers at her in a small wave.

"That's better," he said in the same light accent she had just heard within the confines of her mind seconds before. "The name's Wraith, missy. I'd say it's a pleasure to meet you, but I have the feeling that if I try to shake your head, you'll slice it off with that fancy blade of yours there."

Terror bolted through Zel like nothing she had ever experienced. She knew that she had to run, yet when faced with this... this _monster _she found herself unable to breath.

"Hey now," the half-life frowned, "you don't look so good, sweetheart..."

"Get away from me." Her voice was weak to her own ears.

The man groaned loudly, palmed his forehead, and muttered something in a foreign tongue. Sighing, the half-life leaned down to Zel's level and said slowly, "I am not going to hurt you. Seriously. If I wanted to hurt you, I wouldn't have taken this form."

Had she had a heart, it could have been dancing its own samba. Zel couldn't force herself to tear her eyes away from the form in front of her. The creature looked like a young man, but she knew better.

"Don't think I don't know," she whispered. "The only reason you haven't hurt me yet is because you can't. A half-life can't kill the person holding the weapon they're tied to. You're just trying to catch me off guard, but let me tell you: it's not working."

Something flashed within the depths of the monster's luminous eyes; if this "Wraith" had been human, it might have been emotions. "Listen, kid," the voice had turned cold, "stop assuming that you know everything about me, okay? I've been stuck in this hole for centuries while my siblings have free-reign on the surface. And _no_, I do not mean other half-lives. You've got me all wrong, _human_. For one, I'm not a half-life. I'm _like _a half-life. I'm not one of those people who can't accept that they're dead, so I strike a deal with the first blacksmith I see to forge my soul into a weapon. I've never been a slave to anyone, much less broken a contract and killed people. I never started any rumors about ghosts killing people. I'm not a vengeful spirit, and I am most certainly not a poltergeist. First off, those guys are annoying." The form took a deep breath. "What I'm trying to say is- I came first, and then those amateurs came along and tried to give my and my siblings a bad rep. Those surface dwellers are terrified of these _spectral images_ now, and we didn't do jack. My and my siblings started out with our souls confined to weapons, but half-lives use to be human. Fear of death and/or the Underworld kept them from properly passing on, so they tried to imitate what we had been born to do: turn an inanimate object into a host for a soul. Unfortunately for them, a human soul was meant to exist in a human body, and time would always wear away at their sanity. Soon, they would start to turn vicious, and then you have your typical half-life."

Zel's gray eyes met Wraith's own pearls. "Kid, I'm not the bad guy. I'm just tired of being stuck down here." He almost seemed to be pleading now. "And when I saw your eyes light up when you saw me- oh man- it was like seeing my first sunrise. It's been centuries since I've seen dawn, kid. The half-lives ruined any chance of me getting back to the surface, back to Ninjago, and seeing that fiery ball of light one more time. I'm not a killer, kid, though some of siblings can be a little... _unruly_... I promise that I'm not like them. As the youngest of my dysfunctional family, I know a little bit about being looked down on for not being as dark or serious as the rest of them, but I don't really like the life they want me to live just because I need a wielder to move from place to place."

The kunoichi blinked. When did she start thinking of this form as a he? With a sharp shake of her head, Zel knew that she was letting the half-life get to her more than it should. These decrepit souls were monsters that only used the living to prolong their existence without death. Once a soul was bonded to a weapon, it could never be separated. Only the destruction of the artillery could destroy the half-life once and for all, and it could only be done by casting its form into the hottest fire in Ninjago.

Zel pushed herself to her feet and bore down on Wraith, a cold look in her eyes. "And what makes you think that I'm going to believe you?" Wraith stood, its head tilted to one side as though calculating the woman before him.

"Because you've never seen a half-life's spirit become a shadow without help from its wielder," it said softly, "and because a half-life can't take on a tangible human shape."

The creature extended a hand slowly and cupped Zel's cheek. Her skin tingled at the contact. The touch felt as real as any living person and the desperate look in those colorless eyes almost seemed like that of a small, helpless child. A shaking hand, arm blade retracting gradually, lifted and tightly fingered the bare arm connected to the hand on her face. She could feel skin, real skin, beneath her fingers, but that was impossible.

"What are you..?" her eyes searched his, uncertainty flickering in the depths.

"I am as old as Ninjago itself," Wraith said solemnly. "Just as the great world was born beneath the feet of the first spinjitzu master, I rose up from the oblivion and took form. I am neither from this Underworld, nor belong in it. What I am is an idea that was never meant to take form. To describe my existence with English words would be nearly impossible for me, and the only person who could has already passed from this life. For now, all I'm capable of telling you is that I am an eternal paradox."

Zel ran her hand farther up the arm to the shoulder and the cloth that covered it. She could touch this form. "What do you want from me?" The creature blinked slowly.

"I want to go home."

Time seemed to drag on for a millennium as the kunoichi stared at the apparition. Her programming told her that it was a trick and was trying to use her emotions to weasel a sense of pity from her, but her more devious side suggested that she let him come along for the ride, that they wouldn't be bound together so long as she didn't make a contract with it/him.

At last, Zel said, "Help me find someone, and I'll think about letting you come with us. But if you try any funny business, I'll tie you in knots and throw you into that fire under us."

Shock registered in Wraith's eyes as her words sank in. "You mean... you're letting me be your new-"

"No," she said sharply, eyes narrowed. "No contracts, no agreements, nothing. I'm not stupid. I'm letting you tag along because you say you've been down here for a long time, but no more. You are not my weapon and I am not your wielder. All I need is to find the man who came down here with me, that's all." _If Lord Garmadon could even be called a man... _she added internally. No matter how many times she saw him, those four arms were still freaky beyond comparison.

A broad smile cleaved the pale face before her and before she could react, strong arms pulled her into a tight embrace. "Thanks, kid. I promise I'm not like the half-lives you know. I'm similar to them physically, but there's years between us." When he drew back, there was a certain gleam in his eyes that hadn't been there before, and she recognized them all too well. His voice took on a mischievous lilt as he said, "So, sweetheart, you got a name?"

"You can call me Zel," she said shortly, taking a step backwards, "so stop with the sweetheart stuff."

"Only if you agree to call me by my name," he raised his eyebrows.

"That's an agreement."

Wraith groaned. "Please tell me that all woman in Ninjago aren't like you."

Zel smirked. "Oh, I'm sure that some are far more intelligent, but a rare few. Come along, _Wraith_. We need to get moving to find Garmadon."

Wraith's eyes lit up at the sound of his name but turned dark the moment he heard Garmadon's. "You're telling me that you're wary of half-lives but are traveling with the deceiver of the Underworld," he drew a smirk. "Quite the character, aren't you?"

"I'm not like most people," she replied coolly. "Now can you help me or not?"

"Patience, kid. He's not really the type of guy that screams subtle," the creature crossed his arms behind his head as he eyed their surroundings with a content expression. "Do you know how long it's been since I've been able to take human form? For one, having legs is awesome, not to mention a mouth. Granted, talking is nice, but eating is better. The Underworld has crappy food."

Zel stared Wraith. And she called _her_ odd. He didn't seem bothered at all by the fact that skeletons might spot them and attack at any moment.

"_Garmadon_," she said pointedly.

He raised an eyebrow. "Gimmie a sec, will you? I'm working on it."

"Really? Because it looks like you're just standing there to me," she waved her arms around in emphasis.

Wraith yawned as he replied, "I'm a weapon with a soul that can take human form in a world where the dead go to rot away and become skeletons that can somehow move without ligaments. Impossibility is my specialty."

Annoyance spiked in her and Zel felt the urge to shove him over the side of the island.

"By the way, I found your Lord. He's in his Dark Fortress," Wraith gestured over to the towering building with the spikes on the roof. "Apparently, he's in some sort of heating argument with the current leaders of the Underworld. Something about snakes and needing an army."

The Serpentine army was guarding the first three fang blades while Pythor went after the fourth. Zel's eyes went wide. Of course! Garmadon wasn't here because Lloyd told him to leave! He was here to put his old army to use to _save his son!_

"Wraith, I don't think we'll have to worry about being seen," said Zel confidently, her cocky grin sliding back into its familiar position on her face. It had been a while since she had felt this strength- not since the ninja tied her to the bed.

The form eyed the kunoichi with a mixed expression of curiosity and wariness. "You're starting to act like me. Don't tell me I'm rubbing off on you that quickly."

The android rolled her eyes. "You wish. Now, what's the quickest way to get to that tower?"

"Well, there's my favorite way, but since I know we won't reach an agreement about it, the fastest way is to borrow this truck and take the northernmost bridges," he said.

Zel turned to Wraith. "What's your favorite way?"

His lopsided smirk reappeared without hesitation. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you." Without another word, his form melted into shadows and shrank back into the whip.** But if I were you, I'd hurry up with the truck before someone notices us.**

"Yes, mother," Zel huffed and stalked around to the driver's door. She hopped behind the wheel of the idling engine and took a moment to check the gauges. Running out of gas on the way there would really suck, but the engine didn't seem to run on anything, or at least she couldn't find the tale-tell symbols for such. After a quick tug to the lever of the parking brake, Zel put her foot to the pedal and the truck jumped to respond.

She drove fast enough so that the skeleton couldn't see inside, but not as fast as Garmadon's insane driving speeds. She flew past over the first bridge, the second, the fifth, all the while guided by the directions Wraith spouted. Skeletons screamed after her as she barreled through their gatherings, but she payed them no mind. If Garmadon was to lead an army out of here, he must be opening a portal wide enough for a large quantity to get through. Something that big would be hard to miss, but it wouldn't matter if it was opened miles from her current location; she couldn't get there in time anyways.

The truck sailed up to the last bridge before reaching the island and shot across it. It dodged around more skeletal bikes like the one she had ridden, as well as more skeletons and larger trucks that could have easily passed as tanks. Up ahead, torches lit with purple fire lit the wooden planks that lined the entrance to the fortress. Zel maneuvered the truck accordingly and the vehicle drove seamlessly between them. The doors were shut ahead, but the kunoichi stomped the brakes, shoved the gas pedal to the floor, jerked the wheel to the right, and spun the truck in a large doughnut. She shifted the truck into reverse feet away from the door and took her foot off of the brake. The back end of the truck slammed into the doors, knocking them wide open, and it continued to spin doughnuts as it skittered across the polished floor of the hall. The second the world stopped spinning around her, Zel threw open the door and leaped out, the golden whip ready in her hands.

The chamber inside was dark- a no-brainer- and lit by the lava that lapped from the lower base of the floor. Purple shadows danced around her as she padded out towards the center of the room. Boxy lines decorated the lower half of the ash-ridden walls and smoke swirled above her on the ceiling. Before her lay a pedestal of bones with crossed torches on the front, empty, but facing a hanging bridge that led towards an open platform, and beyond that another bridge and platform, but the final supported a throne of shadows. At its base stood three figures: two skeletons and Garmadon. One skeleton's eyes were wide with shock at the sight of the kunoichi, the other merely looked disgruntled, but Garmadon seemed ready to throw all of them into the lava.

"Who are you? How did you get in here?" the shocked skeleton demanded shrilly.

"That's one of our trucks," the other growled, brandishing a chipped saber in Zel's direction.

"Wait a minute! I know that outfit! She's a ninja!" the other yelped, whirling around.

"There aren't any female ninja, idiot!" the former barked.

Garmadon shot Zel a dark look before resuming whatever conversation they were having before. "So you'll help me?"

"Just this once, but only because everyone down here hates snakes," the more controlled skeleton remarked, and added to the other who was trying to steal his sword away, "Cut it out! It's just a girl!"

"But she looks like a ninja!" he protested. "She could be here to attack us or thwart our plans!"

"She's one of the people you'll be fighting alongside of," Lord Garmadon said carefully. Zel could hear his underlying words effortlessly: 'unless I get ahold of her first.'

The less spastic of the two seemed to bare his teeth. "Sounds like fun."

**Sheesh. Who died and made them king?** Wraith shuddered in Zel's hand.

The kunoichi watched with wary eyes as the skeletons exchanged a glance and tootled off behind the throne. They didn't reappear.

Lord Garmadon strode across the space between himself and Zel, closing the distance all too quickly for her liking. "Follow me." Zel blinked a few times as the lord of darkness clambering into the truck's driver's seat and cranked the engine. Before he could floor the gas pedal, the girl made a split second decision and launched herself into the back of the truck, which was already pulling away out from under her. She sank her arm blades into the side of the bed and hauled herself into it was a soft hiss. Apparently, the guy was in a hurry, and a big one if he didn't try to rip her a new one.

The skeleton truck blew out of the fortress with the force of a wrecking ball and soared across the island on two wheels. Before Zel could do or say anything else, Garmadon yelled back to her, "I hope you're as good as the ninja said," and the truck plummeted over the side of the island towards the fires below.

* * *

_Ugh, writing in third person for so long makes my head hurt. Maybe that's that real reason behind my laziness. XD (Or maybe it's a sign that I need more practice in third person POV!) Hopefully everyone stayed in character and that my haphazard ways of explanation aren't confusing you all. I tend to beat around the bush when it comes to making my ideas clear, but does everyone understand the general concept of a half-life now? (And is Wraith lying about coming before them, or is he really just a victim..?) And for those of you who couldn't guess the identities of the two skeletons, they would be Nuckal and Kruncha. Also, I really do picture Garmadon as the type of guy who'd look at his somewhat-prisoner, think 'oh, she's breathing; she'll be fine,' stuff her away in a tent somewhere, and leave them to fend for themselves while he goes and tries to take back the Underworld- or that might be just me. XD  
_


	6. The First Exposure

_Hello, Ninjago fandom! I think I'm on a roll! Now, you may have noticed the change in the summary and genre, but I assure you that my original plot hasn't changed in the slightest. I just realized that there wasn't as much humor in the story as I had expected (at least, not in the beginning), but there's bound to be plenty later on, trust me. Also, I wanted to try my hand at romance, and hopefully you all will bear with me during this experience. No lemons or limes since I'm testing the water (sorry, eager shippers), but through your all's guidance, I might become that confident later on. In other words, I'm practically begging you to critique the romance aspects of this story TO DEATH. Well, when we get to them anyways. Just remember that flames will be given to Kai, who eats them for breakfast. ;)_

_In all honesty, I'm glad to be getting this chapter out there. I'll talk to you all more about it at the bottom (no spoilers that way), so until next time!_

_ForestBornNinjaGirl: All shall be revealed very soon... :3_

_ForeverDreamer12: Originally, I wasn't going to include the pre-half-life weapon until I had a few more chapters under my belt, but I found that his ironic sense of humor and outlook on life would balance Zel's haphazard "mood swings," as I like to call them. One minute, she's all calm and collected, and the next she's off throwing caution to the wild and letting her feelings take the wheel. Wraith's her tether to the world, and should help keep her from descending into Mary Sue-ism._

_(I still don't own Ninjago. I'm hoping the deeds come with world domination. Joking~!)_

* * *

**The First Exposure**

**Lloyd's POV**

Hah! I knew you guys would want me to do this part! [Jay: Yeah, yeah, get on with it…] What was it you said? "This takes true artist talent, my friends." [Jay: Oh, whatever!] Just sit back and let the Green Ninja take over~

Sweat dripped down my face from my exhausting climb up the Mountain of a Million Steps and my legs threatened to give out from under me, but determination to save my friends pushed me onwards. Even though I wasn't as strong or agile as the others at the time, this big heart of mine granted me the strength to carry on.

[…] Jeez. That was cheesy.

Uh… anyways- my head poked into the cavern of the Serpentine lair, my eyes struggling to adjust to the sudden lack of light. The cave was at least twenty stories deep with an incline that wound around the circular wall to the floor where the snake-people stood, cheering and waving their weapons around. They looked to be having some sort of fight- two snakes were fighting on narrow pathways lined with some sort of glowing stuff that looked really nasty. Acid? Who knew.

From my crouched position at the edge of the ledge-

[Jay: See! He rhymes stuff too! It's not just me!]

[Cole sighs: At the rate this is going, I'd be surprised if we got this done in a month.]

[Kai: Five bucks says we won't.]

-I could barely make out the cage that dangled precariously over the acidic pit, and the chains that held their golden weapons and Nya's suit. Standing, I took a deep breath.

"C'mon, Lloyd. You can do this. You're the Green Ninja!" I whispered to myself.

My feet seemed to glide across the earth as I flew down the stone stairs… right up until the toe of my ninja suit caught a rock that must have fallen off of the walls. I tumbled through the air, bounced the rest of the way down, and slammed face-first into the floor. I guess you could say I really ground to a halt.

"I really gotta grow into this thing…" I muttered, stood up, and brushed myself off. The crowd of Serpentine had fallen silent the minute I barreled through their ranks and stood just as speechless as I loomed over them. My eyes scanned the snakes with a fearless gaze until I caught sight of a familiar splash of purple, and a chuckle rose up inside of me. "Well, if we don't meet again, Pythor! Unhand the ninja, or suffer humiliation against… _the Green Ninja!_"

Without hesitation, the great snake burst out laughing, and the other Serpentine were quick to follow. "Oh, yeah?" the leader roared, but his voice was barely understandable over his raunchy chuckles. "You and what army?"

He kinda had a point.

I looked around, suddenly uncertain about my approach. Maybe I should have been a little more stealthy and I little less worried about saving the day, but it was a little late to be thinking about that sort of thing. Besides, none of these reptiles had special ninja training!

"How about my army of fists?" I shouted over the clamber and gave them a little demonstration of my power. For some reason, that made them laugh harder. My heart sank as the Serpentine doubled over, clutching their guts, and laughed so loudly that the entire cavern shook with the sound. A tinge of fear poked me, but I didn't have time to think. I barely had time to breath. At least, not before a bellow completely drowned out the laughter with a voice so dark that all sound ceased instantly.

"OR THIS ARMY?!"

The Serpentine whirled around and instantly froze. I looked up at the ledge quickly and saw- to my shock and amazement- skeletons. Skeletons were everywhere. They poured into the cavern through the tunnel I came through, secret entrances around the edges, and even seemed to appear straight out of the shadows. But it wasn't the skeletons that made me gasp with delight, but the four-armed man leading them and the kunoichi by his side.

"Dad!" I cried.

"Lloyd!" he turned and fixed his scarlet eyes on me. "You made me realize that I _do_ have a choice! If there's anyone who's going to threaten Ninjago, it better well be me!"

"A skeleton army?" Pythor said incredulously. "Why would they fight beside you? You betrayed them and Samukai long ago!"

A skeleton just to the left of Zel spoke up, "Because everybody hates snakes!"

This time, it was the skeletons' turn to laugh. I couldn't help but grin at the Serpentine exchanging uneasy glances and the murderous look on Pythor's face when he gave the command to attack. The skeleton echoed the battle cry, and both armies lunged at each other.

I dove out of the way as a Hypnobrai warrior took a swipe at an approaching skeleton, just barely dodging the blade when the skeleton deflected it and throw his helmet at the snake's face. The metal bounced off of the head of the Serpentine, who spun in lazy circles as he tried to follow the skeleton with his eyes crossed. Before the other could continue the assault, I kicked the Hypnobrai backwards into the pit of glowing green stuff. He shrieked like a banshee as his body started to dissolve, and I looked away, my eyes meeting the open sockets of the skeleton. I watched him warily, but the skeleton gave me a nod and a thumbs up before moving onto his next Serpentine victim.

That was pretty cool. Now to free my friends.

A quick glance showed me that the levers for the cages were on the far side of the cavern. It wasn't too far away, but with all of the fighting going on, I would have to be careful not to take a sword to the skull.

I wove between the battling masses as quickly as I could; someone must have flipped one of the switches, because the cage that held the ninja was dropping steadily into the pit of acid. Luckily for them, I'm a quick little guy, so I managed to race over to the controls and pull the release lever in time. The cuffs on their wrists fell away and the bars sank into the base. Instantly, the ninja launched themselves to safety on the other side of the pit.

"Told you I'd save you!" I yelled over the ruckus.

Kai pumped the air with his fist and said something I couldn't make out. Grinning, I watched the ninja as they pulled their respective weapons from the lowering chains and leaped into the fray.

"But who will save you, little troublemaker?"

My blood ran cold as my own shadow morphed under my feet, curling up around my ankles, past my knees, and continuing all the way up until all of me was constricted in darkness. My mind raced back to what Sensei had been practicing with Cole on the deck. Something about relaxing to get away from the Constrictai, but how could I relax at a time like this?!

"Oh, look at you. Lloyd Montgomery Garmadon: the Green Ninja-! Scary, scary!"

That voice. I knew that voice. Where had I heard it before?

"Did you honestly think that I'd let you get away with this? Your little charade might have fooled your ninja friends, but we all know you're nothing but a screw-up."

"Hey! What's going on? Let go of me!" I demanded, struggling to free myself from the shadows, but to no avail.

"Why would I let you go? After all, you seem to be Lord Garmadon's only weakness. He would do anything for you, you know."

"Who are you? Face me, you coward!"

"Me? A coward? And after all this time, after hiding in plain sight… You even thought I was cool. Wasn't my advice the best, little Garmadon?"

The gears were turning in my head, slowly but surely. That voice… those words…

It couldn't be..!

"Jedediah..?" I breathed as the man himself ambled into my vision.

Gone was the suave attire he wore when I had first seen him. He was dressed in all dark colors now- some sort of fighting suit- with a sword in hand. Its wicked blade gleaming in the faint lighting cast by the glowing pit of acid, but no light could disguise the shadows that dripped from its tip: the very shadows that constricted me.

"You're… evil?"

The man laughed. "Good and evil are just terms, kid. There's no such thing in the real world."

"You're lying! You're lying to me!" I screamed, thrashing in the grasp of the shadows.

I couldn't handle this, two betrayals in one day. Even though my father came back, the memory of his leaving still stung like a fresh wound. Someone could apologize for hurting you (and mean it), but that didn't change the fact that it still hurt.

"I've _been _lying to you, but for some reason, you and your friends just seem to accept everything I say," he smiled a cold smile, darkness flashing in his eyes. "I bet you really did believe everything. You probably believe that Zel and I are siblings, that I gave her a simple 'tune-up' when our father passed, that I really am Jedediah Williams. I bet you believe all of that, and more. Tell me, Lloyd, just how far do you think I could have taken it if I wanted to? Just how long could I keep deceiving you merry band of ninja? I'll tell you how long: forever."

"You wouldn't dare! Who are you?"

"Me?" his tone faked innocence. "Why I'm Jedediah Williams. It's not like you can prove my wrong, anyways. Face it, kid. You're just a child. You're not strong, you're not smart, and you're definitely not the Green Ninja. You don't have what it takes. Not even close."

"No! You're wrong! I am the Green Ninja! I am!" my voice rose higher.

"You'll never have what it takes to beat your father."

Suddenly, the shadows were gone, and Jedediah's sword clattered to the floor and skidded just out of the reach. Shock exploded in the man's eyes as a streak of red shot between him and myself.

"Lloyd, run!"

Zel stood in front of me, dark brown liquid seeping from gashes on her forehead and upper thigh. Her blades were protruding from her limbs and her golden weapon shimmering in her hand. She wore a shredded kimono, the fabric barely clinging to her slender physique, and her bare feet left trails of the dark liquid in her wake.

But I couldn't seem to get my feet to move.

"Zel..?" Jedediah's eyes roamed the length of his sister. "What happened to you? Where did you- how did you-?"

She never moved, but Jedediah suddenly seemed much closer, the whip fasted tight around his neck. "You did this, Jed, so I'll thank you for the new look, but it's not really my style."

The man brought up a kunai knife that outwardly appeared in his grasp just as Zel's arm snapped forward. The two blade collided with a loud clang.

"That's not what I mean," he growled. "The whip. How did you get it back?"

Zel swiped Jedediah's feet out from under him with her leg, using the blade to slice through the thick material of his pants. To his credit, he only hissed in pain.

"I didn't. You took my old whip, fair and square, but I don't see what all the fuss is over that old toy, especially when I have this one," she spat, cracking the weapon itself. The whip descended on Jedediah in an arch, but he slid sideways to avoid its strike. Instead of countering, as I expected, he backflipped away from her towards his sword, but Zel zipped forward and planted her foot in his stomach. Jedediah staggered backwards a few feet, but seemed unfazed otherwise. The man yanked a dagger from his boot and chucked it at her, keeping the other firmly in his hand. She tilted her head to one side so that the blade barely grazed her cheek and the finest of line appeared on her face, but no blood (or whatever substitute she had for the stuff).

[Zel: Oil. Just like you humans have blood that transports nutrients throughout your body and helps prevent infections, oil in my system keeps my gears from rusting and also carries dissolves oxygen to the few living organs I have.]

[Jay: Whoa, whoa, whoa! You're saying that after all this time for as long as we've known you, _just now _you're telling us that you're half human?!]

[Zel sighs: No. I'm saying that my father wasn't an inventor by nature. He couldn't figure out a way to create true artificial intelligence like Zane here, so he-]

[Cole: How about we take this outside and let Lloyd finish up? This part _is_ kinda important, even if we're not telling it.]

...Are you guys finished? [Kai: Not by a long shot.] Okay, well, I'll try to hurry if that'll make you feel better. [Kai: Take your time. This'll take a while.]

[Zel (in the distant background): _Mierda._]

[Zane: Please finish, Lloyd. I have never heard this particular event told in such detail before, and my brothers or Zel will undoubtedly inform me on what transpires without me.]

Okay, Zane. Thanks.

"Zel, what do you think you're doing?" Jedediah sucked in a gulp of air. His eyes flickered nervously between his sword and his sister.

The kunoichi bared her teeth, as though trying to mimic a wild dog. "It would be really nice if I knew, Jed. How about you tell me?"

Confusing momentarily overcame the anxiety as Jedediah's eyes locked with hers. "Have you lost your memory?"

"No, _brother_," she hissed, flicking the whip so that it curled off to one side, poised. "But my programming seems to be a little scrambled as of late, and I think my _emotions _are running high!"

Jedediah drew back, his brow furrowed. "I thought I fixed you. Are you telling me that your emotions are working again?"

This time, I saw the whip snap around the man's neck. Its material refracted its own light to mix with the noxious green of the acid pit in a tangle of color.

"I know what you tried to turn me into, Jed," her voice was low, so deep I almost missed it, "but I'm not a monster. I was created to protect you, to love you like the sister you never had. And once you were old enough, I would stop taking care of you, so that you might help me maintain care of my system. But that wasn't good enough. It never was."

Jedediah stared Zel straight in the eye and his voice didn't waver when he said, "We've already had this conversation; I think you might have gotten knocked on the head a little harder than you were use to, eh? That ninja of lightning scramble your sensors?"

Zel shoved her brother to the ground and cocked her leg so that the blade jutting out of its calf pressed down on the flesh of his shoulder. Jedediah's lips pulled tight, but he didn't flinch. "I've seen so much, Jed, so much, in just a short amount of time. I've seen the people I tried to kill let me roam around their house, the lord of darkness assist good for the sake of his son, and most importantly: I've seen what these ninja can do to people. Now, I may not understand half of the stuff they do, or what this Green Ninja business is all about, but this kid is something special to all of them, and he's just that- a kid. You may have altered my programming to attack a fellow android, but I will not- _I would never_- just stand by and watch you murder a child. He is a boy, not a man, and I will not let you judge him as such."

Me. Zel was talking about me. But I hardly knew her! Then again, she did disappear with my father. Maybe she's like him- rough around the edges and a little dark, but still goodhearted on the inside.

"Now, I don't care why you've been lying to yourself and everyone else about where your loyalties lie, but you're hardly a protector," sneered Jedediah. "You couldn't protect me. You didn't protect me from the evil in this world, and look at me now. Here I am, fighting for the wrong side, and guess who was suppose to help guide me and make sure I learned the difference between right and wrong?" He leaned forward, her blade nicking his shoulder, but he didn't seem to care. "You failed, Zel. I'm evil. I was a helpless child who trusted you, and you couldn't keep me safe, so how in Ninjago do you expect to be able to save the son of the darkest soul of who ever lived?"

"I won't," Zel's tone was bitter, "but the ninja will."

I blinked as the woman drew back and sheathed her blades.

"And it's because of them that I'm showing you mercy, brother," she said softly. "I may be an assassin, but the person you programmed me to kill wasn't a person at all. He's an android like me. I know I'm not alone, and that with the right people to help me, I'm capable of overriding my programming. I've seen your evil, Jed, but that evil was neither learned nor taught. It is your evil, and I had no hand in it."

Jedediah was silent for a moment as he stared up at Zel. At last he spoke; "Then you're just like them, thinking you're higher than everyone else just because you can twirl a blade. Well, let me tell you something, _sis_, you said that I never really cared about you? Guess what? You were right. You weren't a real sister to me, not by a long shot. You're not even human. What gives you right the right to call my dad 'father'? _None_. You don't belong. You're not a Williams. Never have, and never will be."

The girl recoiled, her eyes guarded though I could see the faint tremors running up and down her body. What a horrible thing to say to anyone, but she took it like a warrior and only said in retaliation, "If I meant so little to you, why did you come back for me?"

Jedediah laughed loudly, a cold, dark sound that echoed off of the cavern walls over the sounds of the battle. "Because I needed you to lead me to the very people I was destined to destroy. The ninja took everything from me, so I'd like to return the favor, starting with a little gift: you."

Suddenly, he was back on his feet, standing a few good meters away. As I watched, he flung himself in the direction of his sword, scooped it up as he rolled back, and bolted, yelling over his shoulder, "You'll never be safe, Zel! No matter where you go, I _will _find you! So go on! Tell the ninja everything since you've all become such good friends! No one, not even the ninja, will want to harbor you under their roof after you tell them the truth, but I'll let you find our that heartbreak for yourself!"

And he was gone.

Without so much as a backwards glance at the retreating figure, Zel turned to me and asked softly, "Are you okay, Lloyd?"

I nodded, still frozen, but able to do more than just hover.

"We cares?! We got the fang blades, so let's go!"

Kai's voice shocked me out of my stupor. No matter where I went, I always seemed to be able to pick his voice out of a crowd. [Garmadon: Don't let him hear you say that.] I was being honest!

[huffs]

Nodding to Zel, we ran for the ledge, knocking snakes left and right, directly into the blades of the waiting skeletons. We charged up the incline after the ninja, back out through the tunnel, up the drop-rope, and onto the _Bounty_. Nya disappeared towards the bridge and we were in the air in seconds. Only then did I stop to take a breath, and notice that my dad was missing from the assembled party.

**Zel's POV**

[…] I'm tempted to say that I hate you all now...

[Kai: Hmph. I say it's worth it.]

[Lloyd: Uhh... why is Zel chained to a-]

[Jay: HEY, ZANE! HOW 'BOUT YOU 'N' ME GO GET DINNER STARTED?]

[Zane: Oh. If you insist.]

[…]

[Cole: Whose turn is it?]

Lloyd asked me if I wanted to do this next part, but you all seemed to have other plans.

[Jay: I haven't gotten a turn in a while...]

[Kai: I thought you wanted to cook with Zane?]

[Jay: Well, yeah, but I haven't narrated in forever either.]

[Garmadon: I do believe this is where I take my leave.]

[Zane: Have you had the chance to tell a part of the story, Sensei Garmadon?]

[Lloyd: Of course! He's my dad!]

[Kai: WHAT?! YOU MEAN YOU LET HIM-]

Lloyd, unless you want to end up like me, I strongly advise that a flat-out run is in order to prolong your partially inevitable death. [Jay: Hey, Zel, can I have another go when you're finished?] Sure thing, Sparky. Just let me actually start.

[clears throat]

As soon as Sensei Wu finished his head count, Lloyd vanished into the depths of the _Bounty _without another word to me. I felt a little sad at first, but he was probably looking for Garmadon and-

[Jay yelps: Put that down! Bad, Kai! Bad!]

_Para amo a del dios..._ Can a nindroid not complete a thought without being interrupted?! Kai, what on God's green earth are you..? Nevermind. I don't think I want to know. _Dios, ayuda a Lloyd, por favor... _[sighs]

ANYWAYS.

Blood was thicker than water, and I hadn't honestly been expecting any form of gratitude. Not really. Not me, anyways, but my emotions were something else entirely. If anything, they had developed a life of their owns. How did humans deal with all of these feelings, anyways? They just seemed extremely high-management for an advanced life form like the _homo sapiens_.

The others gathered in the control room for something called a "party," with flashing lights, questionable food [Cole: HEY!] (I wasn't taking a crack at your cooking, hot shot; take a chill pill), and odd styles of limb-flailing called "dancing." [Kai snickers] Whatever this "party" was, it reminded me of a wartime celebration, one that usually occurred when a great battle had been won and a sort of celebration was in order. I understood that the ninja had been very anxious to obtain these fang blades in order to prevent the rise of a Great Devourer, but I honestly didn't know much past that. I wasn't in the dark; I was in a void.

I dunked my head under the freezing water pouring from the spout at the sink. Reverting to my previous train of thought, how _did _humans keep their emotions in check? They seemed so uncontrollable, like wildfire. Surely they must have some beneficiary use, or else no one would write songs or books about them, conquer worlds with them, or submit to them. In the past three day that I had know the ninja, I had tried to kill one of them, been set free by them, dragged to the Underworld by their frienemy, and now saved their youngest addition. Three days, but so vastly different, each of them.

It did not compute.

**You're thinking too hard, sweetheart. Just take a few deep breaths and relax. It's what I do. Works just fine, too.**

I bolted upright at the sound of Wraith's voice in my head, slamming my head against the mouth of the spout and uttering colorful language under my breath. Gingerly probing the damage, I drew back from the sink, my head sopping and dripping water all over the bathroom floor. "_Dios, _Wraith! A little warning would be great!" I hissed quietly. The ninja still didn't know about the soul inside of my newly acquired whip—they probably thought I had found my old one lying somewhere aboard _Destiny's Bounty—_and I didn't plan on telling them anytime soon. Jedediah had been partially correct in assuming that the ninja would never seen me the same way if I told them the cold, hard truth. All of it. Every time my more logical side reminded me that honesty was the best policy, my emotions (which I was beginning to suspect was another entirety altogether at this point) screamed bloody murder at me, something about having lost my mind. Did humans have these head-voices too?

**You know, you can talk to me without physically speaking. Just think something really hard, stick it in a mental envelope, and hit SEND.**

I blinked a few times. Sometimes, Wraith spoke in circles around my head, or sometimes in riddles. This would be one of those times. "Care to elaborate?"

He groaned. **Just think something at me. Try it!**

_I like cupcakes,_ I went for something outrageous.

**Do you now? That's new. I didn't know you android-thingies were capable of eating.**

I stared at the golden whip tied around my waist for the longest time. Then it hit me. _Is this how you seem to be reading my thoughts?_

**Sure, **he replied lazily and the whip twinkled.

_And my name's Zel, not sweetheart._

**Darn. I thought I could get away with that one.**

A soft knocking on the bathroom door drew me from my thoughts. I quickly adjusted my clothing before cracking the door. Upon recognizing the green-clad figure in the doorway, I threw it all the way open.

"Sorry about hogging the washroom," I said, trying to give him a small grin, but it probably looked like I was baring my teeth. I wasn't the one good with people like Je- _don't think about him. Don't you dare._

**I'm not. Chillax, my friend.**

Lloyd cocked his head to one side in an adorable manner and asked, "Aren't you going to celebrate with us?"

[Kai: Who'd have thought we'd see the day where Zel openly admitted to having a soft spot for our Green Ninja?] I _will _strangle you with these chains, Kai. [Kai: _Bring it_. I know you're scared of me.]

I bit the inside of my cheek as I contemplated the youth's words. [Kai: See? I knew it! You _are _scared of me!] (No, I just pick my battles wisely.) On one hand, getting a better grasp on this "party" could prove beneficial to me in the long run, and maybe I could apologize a few times before the ninja held me down and demanded answers. On the other hand, if I showed up to their celebration, they might just go ahead and chain me again.

Once again, my emotions tugged on my CPU and begged to go. Apparently, I was lacking in human interaction, or I was curious to observe this "dancing."

"Are you sure?" I asked, frowning. Of course, _that _facial expression I had mastered completely.

He nodded, his bright emerald eyes peering up at me. "You saved my life back there, and I never really had the chance to thank you. So... thanks."

I tugged the corners of my mouth upwards (hopefully, that would do) and said, "No problem, Lloyd."

His expression turned hesitant. "Back there, when you were fighting Jedediah, what did he mean when he said something about telling us everything? Have you been... lying to us?"

Uncertainty prickled the edges of my conscious. I was torn between saving face (the notion that I seemed to have no problem executing until now) and pulling the little guy on my knee. I didn't want to say anything without the others present—I wasn't really in the mood to say it twice if I chose to say anything at all—but it was all happening too fast for my processor to keep up, so I went with a compromising alternative.

Bending down to his level, I looked into those brilliant green eyes, so soft and full of innocence, and said, "I haven't been all that truthful with you, but now that Jedediah isn't here to feed you lies, I promise to try and be more open with you."

_Mierda. _Where had that come from?

**Fraternity is one of the most difficult emotions to wrestle with, **said Wraith softly. **It's what binds us together, though under the more common term "loyalty."**

_But how can I be loyal to someone I don't even know?_

**Zel, when you look at this child, what do you see?**

My eyes drifted over Lloyd, taking in every each of his form. My scanner told me that he was roughly ten years of age, but I might have been able to guess that from the baby fat that still clung to his cheeks and thighs. He had large, crystalline eyes, so transparent that every aspect of him could be seen through them. (People did always say that eyes were the doorways to the soul.) The green ninja suit he wore hung off of his figure in an unkempt fashion; he would need one enormous growth spurt in order to properly fit into it. There was a faint scar on the side of his neck, just by his jawline. His short blonde hair, though in a neat bowl cut, still collected dirt like a feather duster—probably from the Mountain of a Million Steps.

**To you, you have only just met this boy, but there is a side in all of us that strives to protect innocence like him.**

_He's the destined Green Ninja._

**You don't even know what that means, and even if you did, would it matter? His destiny is years ahead of him, but for now, he is a mound of clay. He can be molded into anything as he grows older, but in the end, he will still be a statue. However, for now, his destiny is as easily changed as yours or mine, **Wraith said calmly. **He will grow older and do much, but at this age, he is something to be treasured and protected. You know this, even if you don't understand it.**

Looking at Lloyd, I felt something stir within me. Something warm. At first, I thought that my CPU might be overheating and that I might have to run my head under the sink one more time, but then I noticed that all of my system's readings were perfectly normal. In other words, this was all in my mind.

My emotions were affecting me again, but this time, I didn't mind the effects too terribly.

During this time, Lloyd had been staring at me with a look of deep contemplation etched on his face. After a good minute of us standing there, he finally asked, "So, uh... why are you all wet?"

Laughter exploded from within me before I knew what I was doing. Whatever suspense I had been held captive by released me when Lloyd spoke.

He didn't hate me.

"I don't sweat like the rest of you, so my systems overheat easily," I explained between chuckles. "I almost locked up in that cavern back there."

And just like that, the ice was broken. Lloyd grinned up at me and suddenly procured a wine glass out of nowhere, filled to the brim with yellow syrup. I drew back from it at first (hey, I thought he had some crazy concoction, so you can't blame me), eyes narrowed.

"It's snog-fruit punch! Want some?" he offered, extending the glass.

I scrutinized it thoroughly before saying, "My scanner seems to be malfunctioning. It's unable to identify the ingredients. Lloyd, is it good?"

"Is it good? It's great! C'mon! Let's get you a glass!" Shooting me a toothy smile over his shoulder, the Green Ninja bolted down the hallway, screaming, "Race ya!"

Giggles bubbled up inside of me again, and I didn't hesitate to let them out. As I gave chase, I noticed my reflection in the mirror over the bathroom sink before I left its sight;

I was smiling, and I wasn't even trying.

* * *

_Translations:  
Mierda (shit)  
Para amo a del dios (For the love of God)  
Dios, ayuda a Lloyd, por favor (Lord, please help Lloyd)  
Dios (God) surely you know this by now XD  
_

_AAAAAANND speaking of tethers: tada! So with this chapter, I figured that the ninja would all see Zel in different lights based off their own personalities and beliefs, but during my planning, I realized that none of them could really connect with her in the way I wanted (except for Zane, but she's sort of programmed to kill him, so I didn't really see that one playing out too well). However, since Zel is struggling with her newly-awakened emotions, she would feel overwhelmed by everything happening at the speed it is, so human nature would want to fall back onto something stable. With her mother gone, her father dead, and Jedediah working with Pythor to raise the Great Devourer, "homey" was a little hard to come by, so I thought, 'If I can't give Zel someone to lean back onto, what if I can give her someone she instinctively feels that she can trust because of her unstable condition?' Thus, I twisted events during the the heist for the three fang blades just enough so that Lloyd would have a reason to be nicer to Zel, and not just because he first trusted her brother. I mean, that would be a little counterproductive, no? In the end, she saved his life because she saw what a strain this 'Green Ninja' business was putting on Lloyd and watched to protect him from whatever his future might partake. She witnessed the lengths that Garmadon was willing to go to to save his son, and she felt that if the lord of darkness could summon an army to protect his son, the very least she could do was help in his protection._

_Heh. I just now realized that during my last update when I was typing the author's note, I thought it was Wednesday. DX See, this is what exams do to me (and I have another one tomorrow; wish me luck)._


	7. Destruction on the Horizon

_Whoop! Whoop!_ _Let's give it up for the last day of school! :D You know what this means: more updates! And frankly, I've been wanting to post this all week, but have had exams almost every day. In honor of NO EXAMS until May, I present you with the seventh chapter!_

_ForestBornNinjaGirl: I love writing that little guy. ^^ And I'm proud to say that she will... eventually. There's sort of the whole thing where she attacked the ninja, has a brother out to get them, and then the whole Great Devourer looming over their heads, so it won't happen anytime soon._

_ForeverDreamer12: Duly noted. Even if I decided to, none of that would be published with these works. It's not relevant to the plot, so anything like that wouldn't be included. No worries. ;)_

* * *

**Destruction on the Horizon**

The festivities of successfully retrieving the fang blades carried on well into the night, but at last, Wu urged the ninja to get some rest. That night, the man had tossed and turned until his anxiety drove him to his seeing smoke where horrendous images taunted him. The ninja were surrounded by snakes, he and Pythor were facing off, and finally... the rise of the Great Devourer. It was then that it finally dawned on the spinjitzu master what had been plaguing his mind since he first layed down.

The scroll. He had never had the chance to read it, and with Garmadon's absence on the _Bounty_, he had nothing to cause him hesitation.

Sensei Wu slipped through the hallways below deck, taking extra precautions to ensure that his footsteps and breathing were silent. Though the way the storm tossed _Destiny's Bounty _about like a rag-doll and its roaring thunder shook the ship, he was likely to remain concealed, but he would rather not take any chances. The last thing he wanted was another Green Ninja panic.

When at last Wu reached the hidden closet, he slid inside, closing the door firmly behind him, and made his way over to the shelf. The rocking of the ship had tossed a few scrolls and other artifacts to the floor—which he quickly returned to their rightful places on their respective shelves—but it was the strange yellow parchment that drew his eyes. Drawing a slow breath, Wu opened the scroll and read the first paragraph.

And almost dropped the scroll.

The teacher's heart pounded against the inside of his ribcage like a frightened bird, though his own reaction to the script before him was quite the opposite. His recognized that drawling handwriting all too well, especially the wording and precision in which it was written. The scroll wasn't a prophecy, nor anything along those lines, nor anything he had been expecting, really. No, what lay before him was the very last thing he expected to see.

He was holding a letter from his father.

A letter addressed to him and Garmadon alike.

_My sons, it has been a good, long time that I have watched you grow and prosper. I can still remember the days when the both of you sat on my knees and sucked your thumbs and begged me to teach you spinjitzu. As much as I long to see those days again, I know that no power on earth may reverse the clock to fulfill my wishes. Regardless, I have lived a good life and carry few regrets for a man of my age. When I die, I will pass with the knowledge that my sons will carry on my legacy now and forevermore._

Wu's breath caught in his throat as he continued to read the next few paragraphs.

_However, before I much leave you, there is something I must tell you before my passing, because once I am gone, no one else has the capability to warn you when the time comes. There are many things I have never told you boys, like how I met your mother, or why I created spinjitzu, but I was saving it for a day when you would understand the hows and whys. Now is that time._

_To begin my story, I shall tell you about a time long before either of you were born. This was long before I knew your mother, and even centuries before I created Ninjago. To give you a rough estimate on the date, think of the day the Serpentine were entombed and quadruple the years that have since passed. Now double that time, and you might be close. This was when I was born._

_I was born in a dark place, my sons, darker than most. In fact, darker than all. This was the Underworld before its transformation into a resting place for the dead. In my days, it was truly hell. Light was not even a word in the language spoken back then, but an adopted term used to crush hope from the more unruly of the growing children. During my childhood, I was not like the other kids. While they played tricks and poked fun at each other, I watched from afar with sadness in my heart. These people didn't deserve such treatment, yet in the Underworld, everyone was seen as filth and we expressed our beliefs accordingly._

_There was a long-standing tradition in the Underworld at that time: when a child reached the peak of his or her twentieth birthday (that would be twenty years in your time, not twenty years in ours; time runs differently in the Underworld, you see), they must prove their worthiness to continue living by undergoing a public trial. No two trials were alike, so there was no way to prepare oneself for what was to come. All one could do was train diligently and hope for the best._

_But in that terrible place, hope was to be crushed like a bug. One either knew he or she would fail, or would hold their head up high and complete the many tests within each individual trial._

_My trial went horribly wrong._

Before Wu could continue reading any more, Nya's voice echoed over the _Bounty's _intercom; "Will everyone please place their seat back and tray-table in the upright and locked position. We have reached our destination: Touchfire Mountain. Give us a minute while we settle into position."

Wu's eyes trailed over the scroll, apprehension tugging on him urgently, but at the moment, he had other things to attend to. Learning about his father's endeavors would have to wait. He would only get one chance to destroy the fang blades, but he could read the letter form the first spinjitzu master any time he pleased once the world was safe.

Nostalgia would get another chance.

**Jay's POV**

Zel, you are the best! Haha!

Let's see... where were we? [Zel: Torchfire Mountain.] Really? Sheesh... You all kinda took off without me, huh? [Lloyd: Well, somebody wrote out some parts by hand. We have the manuscripts here, but I don't recognize the handwriting and it doesn't seem to be from any particular point of view, though it usually focuses around one particular person. The last one was about Sensei first getting to read the letter from the First Spinjitzu Master, and the one before that was Zel meeting Wraith in the Underworld.] Huh. 'Kay then.

Kai nudged the end of the plank with his toe. Honestly, I'm clueless why we had to go and make it all dramatic. I mean, sure, we were destroying _the _fang blades of the Great Devourer and all, but Cole's always been a sucker for cliches and sappy stuff like that. [Cole: Now wait a minute-!] But for whatever reason, we had to waste precious destruction time so our glorious leader could go find a plank of wood.

Arg, matey! Walk the plank with that there fang blade!

[All: JAY!]

[clears throat] Now that I've gotten _that_ out of my system...

Before the ninja of fire could set foot on the plank and toss his blade into the fiery pits of Torchfire Mountain, the _Bounty _gave a violent shudder and everyone on deck pitched towards the edge at an alarming rate. Cries echoed around me as my feet slipped from under me, leaving me to slide towards the railing. At the last second, I kicked out my leg and caught myself on the edge of the metal piping before I tipped off of the boat. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the others do the same.

Except for Sensei.

Sensei Wu had fallen onto the plank and slid down its entire length, just barely managing to grab onto the end at the last second.

"Sensei!" Cole pitched his fang blade back further onto the deck and tiptoed onto the plank. We all followed suit as quickly as we could without snapping the board. "Hold on! We're coming!"

In my peripheral, Zel swept the fang blades back towards the stairs near the bridge with her arms, the blades in her calves holding fast to the wooden deck. Her eyes were wide as she watched us slinking closer to our teacher, but made no move to follow us.

Suddenly, Sensei's grasp on the wooden board slipped and our mentor quickly became shrinking dot, lost in all of the smoke. For once in his life, I thought Kai had lost his ever-loving mind when he shoved me into Zane, who fell onto Cole, who ended up falling off and dragging the rest of us with him. I grabbed onto the first thing I could find—Zane—but that all happened to be a part of our firecracker's plan. You see, he couldn't just say, "Oh, by the way, we're now going to form a human chain to save Sensei's life." No. He just pushed us all off and hoped for the best.

[Kai: That's not how it happened...] (When it's your turn, you can tell the story how you want to.)

"You're not going anywhere, old friend!" Cole gasped as he grabbed Sensei's hand. The man's gracious eyes flashed in relief.

"Thank you, Cole."

Kai's groan drug my eyes away from the soft moment going on down below (because the guy clearly deserved having to hold us all up; he scared the daylights out of me!). "Nya! What's going on?!"

Zel's head poked over the edge of the railing, her once-gray eyes now a luminous red. I watched, thinking, _Well crap. She's going to bounce on the board and kill us all. I at least wanted to live 'til I was in my eighties! _but all the crazy woman did was stare at us. Her eyes emitted a flash of light—a scanner, maybe?—which she ran over our bodies. A single blink returned her irises to the normal silver. Well, as normal as silver eyes get anyways. [Zel: Oh, don't you get my started on _your_ eyes, Sparky.] (Hah! Like you'd dare!)

"Need help?" she asked tentatively.

"_No_," replied Kai incredulously, though it was more of a growl than anything.

"Someone or something has overridden the system!" The intercom crackled, beeped, and a different voice screamed through the speakers, "PYTHOR'S ON BOARD!"

Lloyd.

Pythor.

Wait...

HOLY CHIHUAHUA! PYTHOR'S ON BOARD!

"Sorry if I don't lend a hand, but I'm really in a rush," purred an all-too-familiar voice from just out of my sights. "Got this whole... _Devourer_ thing going on. Toodloo!"

Zel belched out a whole dictionary of colorful language in the next second that followed, and not a word of it in English. That's talent right there. "When the hell did you-?! What-?!"

"Where do you think you're going?" Lloyd's voice made its way down to me.

At the time, I was ready to throw a freaking party. Between Lloyd and Speedy Gonzales, one of them should be able to take Pythor down a few notches, right? Well, so long as he didn't do that thing of his where he turns invisible.

Pythor sighed. "A little _cliché_, don't you think?"

"Uh, cliché?" Lloyd sounded puzzled.

"Oh, I wouldn't expect a child to understand..."

"Hey! I've grown up a lot!"

"Drop the fang blades. Now." Zel sounded downright murderous and I could faintly hear the sound of her arm blades sliding against one another as she unsheathed them. It reminded me of nails on a chalk board and I shuddered.

"After all the hard work it took for me to get them? No, I don't think so." Pythor said almost lazily.

I'm not sure what happened next. There was a lot of grunting, Pythor taunting somebody, and then-

[Kai: Hey, if you don't know what happened, give the mic to someone who does!] It's not like you know anything! You were trying to pull up Sensei with the rest of us! [Kai: No, you all were hanging around while I was trying not to drop you!] If that's how you wanna play it-!

**Zel's POV**

Honestly, if you're just going to fight over it, _I'll _tell them what happened. At least I wasn't playing Monkeys in a Barrel over an active volcano. [All: HEY!] Don't get your feathers ruffled. Just a joke. Sheesh.

"No, I don't think so," Pythor bared his fangs, but Lloyd had had enough. The boy lunged at the Serpentine with the wooden four-by-four, swinging all over the place. I restrained myself from pushing the boy behind me—I was more than enough to take on this lousy excuse for a waste of space—and limited myself to joining the fray.

As soon as Pythor's back was turned, I landed a solid jumping kick to the middle of his back and sent him sprawling on the tilted surface of the deck. Surprisingly, he didn't release the fang blades, nor did my kick even seem to bother him. As soon as he was back on his feet, the snake flashed me a jaunty smile and disappeared.

Disappeared out of thin air.

I blinked a few times to ensure that I hadn't lost my mind right then and there, but it didn't do me much good. Still invisible, Pythor's next strike caught me full in the throat and I crumpled to my knees, gagging. I was programmed to defeat one person, not to take on some ancient snake-person, much less one with the ability to become imperceptible. My speed didn't do me much good if I couldn't sense what I was attacking.

As hazy spots danced in my vision, I noticed Lloyd swing madly all around him in a consistent circle. Pythor must have realized that any assault on the boy would end in a welt on the head, so his dark lavender form slowly melted back into view. I made to rip him a new one with my arm blade, but movement sent me back to the deck in a tumble. Whatever he had hit me with, I was willing to bet that it wasn't his tail.

"Do you two actually think you're capable of defeating me?" gloated Pythor.

A large grin stretched across Lloyd's face, reflecting in the eyes that peered out from under the mask. "I'm not trying to defeat you. I'm just keeping you busy until the cavalry arrives."

Cavalry? Did he mean-?

As though summoned by speech alone, a loud whooshing echoed all over the deck as a certain samurai suit dropped down heavily next to the Serpentine. Nya took a few thundering steps towards Pythor, who cowered backwards, trembling. I tried moving one arm, and then the other. It seemed like I could move, so I clambered unsteadily to my feet. For the sake of... whatever the heck I was protecting Ninjago from—some big snake that eats universes, or something like that. ANYWAYS—I sprang forward.

Only to have my arm blade bounce off of a long sword.

"_Que cazzo_?" I slid to one side to get a better glimpse at my attacker and felt my CPU stop dead. Staring down the double-edged blade of pure steal was neither man nor woman, nor child. It had dark eyes, gray, like mine, with pupils of milky white—a shade all its own. Its platinum skin glistened like nothing I had ever seen before, as though the world had finally produced a working lotion that temporarily granted skin luster. [Jay: Huh?] (Nevermind...) It had no hair, simply a head with interlocking platelets that formed hexagonal patterns all over its skull, or what one assumed to be such. It was swaddled in pitch-black robes, a sash of a paler tone lashed fast around its waist, with a long leather sheathe strapped to its back.

And I recognized the bare workings all too well.

"You're... an android too?" I hardly dared to breathe too deeply, but somehow I managed to form coherent words.

I wasn't alone. It wasn't just me and Zane (but I didn't really count Zane; I mean, I _had _tried to kill the guy and my programming was still temperamental, so I wasn't too keen on putting him on the same level as me).

The robot didn't even flinch, and before I could blink, the sword was inches form my neck.

"You are Griselda Williams, a fellow automation," it intoned in stale dialog. There was no voice fluctuation whatsoever. "And a loose cannon. Today, you will die, and tomorrow will be a better day."

No sooner than the words had left its mouth, my shadow twisted at impossible speeds and wrapped itself around the robot's legs. Wraith. The shadows jerked once, hard, and sent the android flying. It crashed into the mast and slumped to the floor of the deck, but almost immediately hopped to its feet, seemingly unharmed.

**You're welcome**, Wraith seemed quite pleased with himself.

I rolled up the sleeves of my kimono, already wincing at the large gash I had slit in on of the sleeves. Nya was going to toss Pythor off of the _Bounty _as a warm up, and would probably use me for target practice later. _I'll thank you once the fang blades are secured and we get this robot off of the ship, _I told him firmly.

**He reminds me of you, **he said, almost in a fanciful tone. **You didn't tell me there were more of your kind. Do many of you run on electricity, or is that just something you do special?**

_As far as I was aware, Zane and myself were the only specimen of our kind._

"I hit him, guys!" Lloyd's voice drew my gaze temporarily. The green ninja brandished his four-by-four over his head triumphantly, drawing a smile from me. He must have knocked Pythor pretty good.

**Shit-!**

I was suddenly aware of the gust of wind that tugged at my hair and clothing, and I whirled around. The robot's own shadow now was winding up its body, binding it in tight folds. I watched, half awed, half relieved, as Wraith's possession of the android's shadows wrestled the thing to the ground.

_Good reflexes, _I commented, bending over the robot.

The thing glared up at me with flashing sights.

"Why are you here?" I crouched next to the thing, never breaking eye contact. "Are you with Pythor, or did... Jedediah send you?"

"I am not authorized to reveal information regarding my programming, programmer, nor my initial construction." Had it been human, I might have been tempted to say that it snapped.

"Really now..?" I murmured.

_Wraith, there should be a reset switch under a panel concealed beneath its clothing on the stomach. Flip that please._

Within a few seconds, the android lay limp at my feet, and after a short pause, light returned to those colorless eyes.

I bit my lip. It was a stretch, but I was playing a hunch that just might work. "Activate command sequence A1A2-B34 under exhibition 3589076."

I could feel Wraith's curiosity honing in on the droid as it shuddered once before opening its mouth.

"What is your request?" it said in a monotone.

"State you intentions and purpose," I said softly.

"I am Commandroid Version 2.0. My intentions are eliminating the threat of the rogue automation Griselda Williams. My purpose is eliminating the threat of the rogue automation Griselda Williams."

"Are there more... automations like you?"

"I am Commandroid Version 2.0, one of 10,000,000,000 original automations."

For a moment, it felt as though something had lodged in my esophagus. Ten billion? Ten billions androids, or automations? Was that some sort of a collective number, like a population status, or was it like the tallies of a single unit, like an army? Who in their right mind would just think, _Today I feel like creating a mass willing to do whatever I say! Mwahahaha!_ It couldn't be completely innocent, could it? After all, of the only people I know capable of making a fully-functioning robot, one is dead and I wouldn't dare consult the knowledge of the last person.

Swallowing thickly, I asked one final question, "Who is your creator?"

"Jedediah Williams."

Just like that, I was proven completely wrong.

I stared down at the limp robot before me. Encased in possessed shadows, it was almost like looking at a child.

Was it as socially inept as I?

"As much as I would like to play with your overgrown toys, _I _have a ride to catch!" Pythor's voice cut through the beginnings of my thoughts. I spun around instantly—my focus was suppose to be the fang blades after all, not this puny excuse for an assassin—but as soon as my eyes found the Serpentine leader, he launched himself clear off of the ship.

Lloyd, Nya and I raced to the edge of the deck, the green ninja letting out a cry of frustration. Far down below was a green and black helicopter with some sort of basket, almost like a hot air balloon, that scooped up Pythor midway through his fall. Activating my far-sights, I could make out another snake, blue, with a long golden staff.

"So long, suckers!" Pythor bellowed over the roaring of the whirling blades. The chopper pivoted and began to chug away.

I hissed under my breath and turned to Nya. "Is the _Bounty _fast enough to chase them down?"

Before she could answer, Jay's scream reached our ears. "Don't let go!"

"You think I don't know that?!" Kai.

Oops. We sort of left them hanging, didn't we?

[Kai: Yeah. You did. Thanks for that.]

Without bothering to answer me, Nya took off for the plank of wood just as Kai's feet slipping from the edge of the board. The samurai suit vaulted the railing as disappeared from view. Lloyd and I dashed over to the edge, but Nya had control over the situation; she caught all five and steered her suit back up to _Destiny's Bounty_, depositing her precious cargo gently on the deck. Everyone raced back to the other side of the ship—these people just didn't know when to stop—and squinted into the distance.

"There!" Jay yelled, pointing. "They're getting away!"

"I'm on it!" Nya hopped out of the suit and vanished up the stairs.

_Didn't I just say something about chasing them down in the _Bounty? I wondered, shaking my head.

**I feel you. My siblings are the same way to me.**

_Wait, you have siblings?!_

No sooner than I had finished this thought, a red-clad hand tugged me to face its owner. Kai's smoldering eyes bore down on me, his grip clenching almost painfully.

"Why didn't you stop him?" he demanded. "You seemed just fine taking on all four of us at once, so why not him? Or are you working with Pythor, too?"

**Should I trip him? **offered Wraith mischievously.

_I appreciate the help with the android, but I can handle this one myself._

"He became invisible once he realized that Lloyd wasn't fighting him alone, and then he struck me with something that temporarily disabled my systems," I said calmly. "After that, I was attacked by that." I waved my hand in the general direction of the android.

**Oh. About that...**

Kai's eyes narrowed as he peered over my shoulder. "What 'that'? I don't see anything." The hand tightened (definitely painful now). "What are you trying to pull?"

I glanced over my shoulder and did a double take.

The robot was gone.

**_Yeeeeeeep_****. He slipped away when you all were running around the ship.**

_And you didn't think to stop him?_ I took a breath.

Well, I was screwed, and judging by the look in the fire ninja's eyes, it was back to the brigs for little old me.

[Kai (almost proudly): Damn straight.]

* * *

_Translations:  
Que cazzo? (what the fuck?)  
_

_The first part of the scroll has been revealed, as well as a new nemesis. How will all of this play out? Find out next Tuesday/Friday! Until then, all questions and comments and welcomed; if you don't understand something, speak up, because you're probably not the only one. Cheers!_


	8. Fighting Your Own Reputation

_Ugh. Stupid document deleted itself when I tried to upload it so I had to rewrite a ton. ANYWHO- Happy holidays everyone! Hope you all had a wonderful time (I know I did, but my family knows no bounds; writing is such a great stress reliever). And yes, I did change the genre again. I decided to save the romance for the stand-alone "sequel." I say "sequel" because I intended for Nevermore to be a sort of prequel to the actual plotline I had in mind. By the way, uh, surprise! There's another book of this stuff! XD I have no idea what to call it yet, so feel free to send in your ideas!_

_ForeverDreamer12: I felt like things were getting too serious around here, and I thought Jay was likely to make a remark along those lines. And seriously, what was up with the plank anyways? I always assumed that Cole was a sucker was the sappy stuff and that it was all his fault. XD_

_ForestBornNinjaGirl: Do you indeed..? ;3_

_As devastating a fact as it may be, I don't own Ninjago. If I did, Lord Garmadon would have used the MegaWeapon more creatively and probably would have taken over all of Ninjago and the Underworld. (Somewhere in Ninjago: I DID JUST FINE WITH THE MEGA WEAPON! I WAS JUST WARMING UP TO MY MORE SERIOUS IDEAS WHEN THE NINJA DESTROYED IT!) Suuuuuuure you were, Garmy, but you're still awesome._

* * *

**Fighting Your Own Reputation**

Sensei Wu found himself drawn below the deck as the ninja hustled to ready themselves for the oncoming battle. The spinjitzu master knew that the rattlecopter Pythor had used to escape wouldn't be fast enough to outrun the _Bounty_, so his worries centered around how to retrieve the fang blades, not when. That, and the startling vision he had seen in the smoke.

However, Zel's bout of abruptness towards Pythor's mysterious companion drew a frown from Wu. Though he had decided to let the ninja do with her what they would, he was beginning to regret his decision when the girl starting in on a story about her brother, only to be chained to her bed by an enraged fire ninja. Kai was certain that the android was lying through her teeth and would hear none of her excuses, but Wu had seen an odd look in Zane's eye when his more spontaneous friend drug the protesting girl to Lloyd's old room. For some reason, the nindroid had been awfully quiet in regards to Zel's situation. At first, Sensei Wu had believed that it was because of her programming—a fact that still baffled the master, as the idea seemed like a flimsy excuse for far greater—but he had seen the ninja of ice release his falcon after the rattlecopter, and he was beginning to worry about the soundness of his students' mind, as well as the impending doom of the universe.

Decisively drawing up a stool, Wu pulled the scroll from its hiding place on the shelf and opened it up. Perhaps his father could enlighten him with his ancient words and ways.

_At first, I didn't know that I had failed- all I had done was risked my life to save an innocent that had been mistaken for me- but showing compassion was considered the most atrocious act in the history of the trials. I was to be banished, my sons, to the surface that lay above us. Back then, it was a barren wasteland, ravaged by storms of ice that pummeled the boiling sea below. The four states of matter all existed at once in breathtaking harmony: ice, water, steam, and the most volatile form of all, dark matter. It would have been a plasma, but water lacks a phase with that amount of stable energy, and the evil from the Underworld had seeped between the boundaries between worlds and corrupted the manifestation._

_Sons, before I created Ninjago, the world I was banished to was a death sentence. The Underworld obtained its name because it was the interior of a planet ravaged by untamed chaos. They called this pandemonium 'Equilibrium,' but its fettle was far from habitable. No one could survive in its current conditions. I had mere minutes to live. I thought I was about to witness Death itself, but then something caught my eye. There was a soft glow beneath the surface of the water. I was dying with each second I tried to continue treading water, so I knew that I had nothing left to lose. I dove in and didn't resurface, for under the water was the most extraordinary thing I had ever seen:_

_Goodness._

_Now, I know, I know, goodness is fairly common these days, especially when it concerns the two of you, but to me, it was a lifesaver. What I found that day changed my life forever, and a good thing, too!_

_When I say Goodness, I do not mean the personified trait, but a shield of solid gold. On its front was the carving of a dragon- yes, the same symbol on that dark vest I own. As soon as my fingers brushed it, jaws enclosed around my midsection and the Golden Dragon itself lifted me from the water and carried me into the sky above._

"The Golden Dragon..." Wu murmured under his breath. He faintly remembered his father saying something about a technique he called the Golden Dragon. Either it summoned the spirit of _the_ Golden Dragon or it enabled the user to temporarily create a spectral form of the great reptile, but his father had never gone into depths about it. Perhaps he would explain this in his letter...

_How long it flew with me, I knew not, but I did know that it was a long time indeed. Hours, days, weeks, months- who knew? In the end, the dragon took me back to its world where it took me under its wing and told me about its endeavors._

_The dragons of those days were fierce creatures, guardians, with the wind at their backs and their heads held high. To them, the barren sea that coated the Underworld was a sad excuse for a world, and that what lay deep beneath its surface was far most interesting. The other dragons were enthralled by the evilness of the Underworld and wanted to know how a place of shadows could function without the light to cast them. In exchange for telling them about the Underworld, they taught me their secrets. As aforementioned, these dragons were proud, so boasting to me was just another way to try to seem superior, but sometimes they talked a little too much._

_You see, the dragons had their own fighting style, so different from anything I had ever seen back in the Underworld. They used their vast knowledge and experience to transform their bodies into a whirling tornado of devastation. While no actual tornado was formed, it was an illusion created by the untrained eye, fast enough to see them move, but not fast enough to see details. In other words, a blur. They used their wings to spin at incredible rates of speed and their talons to slash at any enemy that might come near. Their techniques formed an impenetrable wall that allowed them to attack and defend simultaneously._

_I tried many times to copy their moves, but each try was in vain. I was missing something big, something that allowed them to whirl around with the grace and majesty that I had been taught was nonexistent in battle. The dragons almost seemed to be dancing, so I tried that. Again, failure knocking on my door._

_It wasn't until my golden savior whispered a location in my ear that I began to understand the weight behind the technique. It wasn't just spinning and clawing. For them, it was simply recalling their instincts._

_When I arrived at the location the Golden Dragon had told me, I was faced with a mountain. I haven't mentioned this yet, so I might as well do it now before my old mind forgets. The dragons' world was beautiful. It looked much like Ninjago does today. (I might have based a few of my more clever landmarks off of the dragon's.) However, this mountain was unlike the others; it was made of liquid gold._

_It was there that I unlocked my true potential: creating the weapons necessary to save the people of the Underworld from themselves. I believe you remember the golden weapons I gave you two not long ago? Yes, those are the ones. Picture this, my sons: as a young man, I came to understand my destiny was not to liberate the Underworld via transformation, but by creating an entirely new world for them to live in. It was then that I understood how the dragons fought and I realized that no mortal would ever be able to learn their ways, so I created a version that all those with enough determination and strength could master. I called this move spinjitzu, the dragon's word for "beginnings," and used my first-ever spinjitzu to mold four weapons from the mountain's flesh._

_Despite my exhilaration, my work was far from finished. The weapons were incomplete. For whatever reason, the golden liquid refused to be made into the Weapons of Spinjitzu. It was almost as if they were too uncontrollable to take on a definitive shape._

_The Golden Dragon told me that there were at least three sides to every truth. There was the idea, the contradiction, and the compromise. My sons, this simply means that 'good' and 'evil' are labels. 'Good' is what the general public agrees with. If everyone agrees with it, it has to be "good," right? 'Bad' is something that rubs against the grain, something that objects to the accepted idea in full. Thus, evil is the personification of 'bad.' 'Compromise' is the conclusion we reach in the end where neither side gets what they originally wanted, but each sides gets a little bit. I suppose a more slang expression would be meeting in the middle. Using this logic, "harmony" between light and dark is the compromise._

_Now, I do understand the flaws in his logic, but we _are_ talking about dragons and heaven knows that arguing with one would have gotten me decapitated. I know that you boys understand the difference between right and wrong, and I fully expect you to uphold those morals once I pass, so don't go crying to your mother when your plans to take over the world with goodness fails._

_What I'm trying to say is that the Golden Dragon was mostly right. He was trying to explain that what keeps the world spinning isn't the goodness of our hearts nor the evil in our souls, but the balance between the two. Harmony is essential. If the balance is disturbed, the world will fall into turmoil until it is restored. Meaning, good nor evil will ever win, or else risk the demise of all of the worlds._

_I then realized why my weapons refused to be created: four elemental weapons forged for good would tip the balance and chaos would consume the worlds until all catalysts were eradicated. Knowing full and well what I had to do next, I rode the Golden Dragon back to the seas that surrounded the Underworld and sank the four mounds into the dark matter. From this interface, I produced three things:_

_Ninjago- the land you know today_

_The Four Golden Weapons of Spinjitzu- the sword of fire, the scythe of quakes, the shurikens of ice, and the nunchucks of lightning_

_and the four more products that I never could have predicted in my wildest dreams. I knew from the beginning that light will always cast a shadow, which is why I made Ninjago the way I did. Garmadon, Wu, you may not have found my other scrolls yet, but know this before it is too late: Ninjago is made up of two islands, not one. I didn't originally plan for this to happen- I thought that I was strong enough to bypass the Golden Dragon's words- but I would soon realize that my pride would be the cause of much agony to come. My time with the dragons had caused them to rub off on me in more ways than one, and it seemed as though I was doomed to learn things the hard way._

_But before I venture too far ahead of myself, let me go back to what I mentioned before. The four golden weapons were created to do good, but in order to maintain equilibrium, four more weapons were born: the whip of paradox, the gauntlets of epitome, the manuballista of naught, and the javelin of aversion. My heart sank at the sight of their forms sneering up at me, but I know that there was little I could do about it was the time being. The ruler of the Underworld, the feared Overlord, had felt the disturbance I had caused by forming Ninjago and decided to personally see what had occurred on the surface. When he reached my peaceful dwelling... well, that's when things started to go wrong._

**Kai's POV**

"And if I'm right?" Zel raised an eyebrow.

My eyes narrowed. "It'll be too little, too late." Without another word, I slammed the door.

I took a deep breath and ran my hand over my face. Of course the little traitor would come up with some concoction about a conspiracy against the ninja. An army of android controlled by her brother? Pfft. Likely story. And the best part was that she seemed to be under the impression that each fighter was designed to take down one of us, so that each one was specialized to fighting one ninja. I guess that meant that if she was created to kill Zane, then I would have my own personal assassins, and so would Jay and Cole. A robot designed to play against our weaknesses and destroy us.

Sure. Because someone knows all of our weaknesses and how to exploit them.

Snorting to myself, I thought back what the kunoichi had told me.

_"__Jedediah designed me to be faster than Zane," she said as I clamped the restraint around her lower arm. "Since he's incredibly intelligent, I was made to be crafty. That way, even if he did manage to outsmart me and find I way to keep up with my speed, I would be able to think up a new strategy to use."_

_I rolled my eyes and wrapped the excess chains around the leg of the bed. "And now he's found your blueprints and is testing them out by making an android for you. Yeah, that's real believable."_

_"__Kai, I'm trying to give you an advantage but you're making this extremely difficult," she took a deep breath. "I know how this must look, but I-"_

_"__Do you really? Do you really know how this looks?" I glared down at her and snapped the end of the cuff to the bedpost. "Pythor made off with the fang blades and you didn't do jack to stop him. Instead, you make up some shit about a disappearing robot from Jedediah's army that's out to get you. You say that you attacked Zane because you were programmed to, but the last time I looked, you attacked all of us. In fact, I bet Jay's still moaning over that welt you left on his head, so don't you dare give me crap about what you were forced to do."_

_Zel made to open her mouth, but I cut her off sharply, "You can run that metal mouth of yours all you want, but I know that you went with Lord Garmadon to the Underworld. Do you think I'm stupid? No one's making you act evil, Zel, you're doing that all by yourself. And don't even start about Lloyd. The only reason you saved him was to get on our good side and ensure that when Garmadon tries to corrupt Ninjago, you'll have a front row seat saved." I leaned in. "What was the deal, Zel? Did he promise to make you his right hand man? His personal assassin?"_

_Dark gray eyes flashed as she met me halfway. For a moment, I saw spite shimmering in those colorless depths. "I saved Lloyd because he was innocent," she hissed, "and a child. For whatever reason, you all are putting so much stress on him about becoming this Green Ninja. He's just a boy, yet you all stand in awe of what he has yet to become. He may be your precious chosen one, but he is still young and vulnerable."_

_"__Don't you dare chastise us on how we treat Lloyd. We do what's best for him, no matter what he thinks," I spat. "Besides, who are you to say that anyways? You're not one of us. You're no ninja. Just an out of control robot that fooled herself into thinking she's a kunoichi. You're not fooling me, or Sensei, or anyone else. You don't have what it takes, and none of us will ever be willing to give you a chance to betray us again. So stay away from Lloyd. We don't need you darkness to corrupt 'his innocence.'"_

_Before she could reply, I bolted the last cuff around her ankle to the post on the wall behind her and stood back. I noticed vaguely that my hands had fisted at my sides some time ago—they were aching numbly—but I payed the pain no mind. The traitor before me sat on top of the matted covers, her bright red hair sticking out from her head at odd angles, my sister's kimono twisted around her limp form._

_"__Kai," she spoke softly now, her eyes less harsh in an odd copy of her tone, "I know that there's little I can do to prove myself to you, but let me tell you this: the robots have weaknesses of their own. Think about your elements. If I was made to combat ice, then what would my weakness be? What about an android designed to go after earth, lightning, or fire?"_

_A wry chuckle slipped from me. "I'm not going to listen to your rambling anymore, Zel. I've got fang blades to recover. The Great Devourer is a little more life-threatening than a wanna-be kunoichi."_

_"__It's just a speculation, but I think that if each warrior is meant to take down a certain ninja, the opposite element will be able to defeat it easier than any other," she said urgently._

_My eyes locked with hers. "Then let's hope that I'm not the first person who deals with you when we get back. Fire is ice's counter element, you know." A ruby haze momentarily flickered around my clenched fists before I grasped the doorknob._

_Hesitation ignited in her sights as she noticed my elemental power. For a moment, I didn't see her as the spy who let Pythor escape, but as a troubled girl unsure of her knowledge and future. Zel was just another victim in the mind games evil decided to play._

_I dispelled these thoughts with a quick shake of my head. "Keep that in mind, Zel," I rumbled under my breath, "and pray that someone more sympathetic will find you first."_

As I headed up the stairs to the deck, my mind couldn't help but wander back to one particular sentence that Zel had uttered, that the robots' weakness was its strength's opposite. So that meant that Zane would be my robots' weakness and I would be his, and the same for Jay and Cole. That being said, it sounded like all we had to do was pair up with our element's counter and watch each other's backs.

Pfft. Yeah right. Like it could be that easy. Like there was an army of androids in the first place.

But a part of my couldn't help but be suspicious.

What if Zel was right?

* * *

_Short and sweet, but to the point. This chapter may feel like a filler, but if you look closely, it covers a lot of things that were briefly touched in previous chapters. First of all, the First Spinjitzu Master created the four elemental weapons at the Golden Peaks in Ninjago, but then he forged them in the Temple of Light, BUT he used the weapons to create Ninjago. My take is that the Temple of Light was originally built on the Golden Peaks, a mountain range that the First Spinjitzu Master created SIMULTANEOUSLY with the golden weapons, using his true potential: the spinjitzu powers of creation. When the First Master split Ninjago in two to save it, the Golden Peaks cleaved themselves to form the Golden Peaks we know today AND the mountains on the Dark Island where the Temple was hidden. See? Now that paradox makes more sense. _

_Secondly, it was hinted in previous chapters (two and six mainly, and a tidbit in four) that Zel tends to cave around Kai. It makes sense if you think about it. She was reprogrammed to overcome someone with an affinity for ice. Normally, people think that opposing elements would be the best to clash with each other, but that leaves too many variables at stake; it's too easy for either side to conquer the other. Zel wasn't created to be strong. Granted, her android body is sturdy enough to resist things a lot of people aren't, but strength was never one of her strong suits. She was meant to be quick and clever-someone to outmaneuver Zane in a fight, not to take him on head-to-head. As we all know, Kai is the ninja of fire and prefers direct confrontation. Also, since Zel was made to fight Zane, her body is more resistant to colder temperatures and fighting a solid element. Fire is a plasma, so it's hot, fast, and extremely destructive in itself. Ice doesn't change the chemical properties of the things it touches, but fire does. Zel's wariness around Kai is because she knows she can't beat him in a one-on-one fight. Though she's smarter and faster, Kai has experience, an elemental weapon, and his recently unlocked true potential: FIRE-the one thing she wasn't prepared to combat. In short, that's why she didn't struggle against him locking her up; she knew she couldn't escape him if he got serious. (And if you think about, lightning is also a plasma, which is why Jay has one up on her as well, not to mention that his abilities with lightning make him the only person more swift than her, and that's something she has ZERO experience with.)_

_My next point of address is that we learned in the episode The Stone Army that balance is important to the universe. Misako herself said so, and she got it from the scrolls referring to the Green Ninja. There can be no "good" without "evil" to counter it, just as light cannot exist without casting shadows. So long as one side doesn't conquer all, harmony will remain and the world will not fall my to chaos.  
_

_Thus, I had an idea: why was there a Great Devourer in the first place? And then it came to me. What if we didn't see the serpent as something that eats the world, but as a huge RESET button to the universe? Imagine if good wiped all evil from the face of the earth. That would be good, right? But light cannot drown out all darkness, so good cannot thwart all evil. There's a given idea in chemistry (complete change of subject, I know, but bare with me) that all objects are struggling to reach a perfect balance. Once that balance is reached, subsistence will do anything to maintain it. Should something tip the scale, the object will compensate so as to stay at "homeostasis." However, the further something stretches from its inner equilibrium, the faster the object compensates. (If you're completely lost, think of it in terms of life and death. Humans' equilibrium is to become one with the universe; but life isn't picturesque, so the only way to mold into something that the universe will accept is to die. Regardless of this statement, humans fight against this every day by continuing to life. Although, if some of us do more dangerous things [like skydiving, rock climbing, or whitewater rafting], we're more likely to die, right? Precisely. The farther we wander from equilibrium, the faster we snap back and thus, people who struggle more fiercely against death often times reach it quicker than those who just sit back with a bag of popcorn. And yes, this is all chemistry, people. We just covered this before holiday break. XD) In other words, should evil OR good gain too much ground against one another, AND there was no way for one side to best the other, the universe would have to do something about that, no? My theory is that whoever "created" the Great Devourer did so with the idea that it would be unleashed when the world was too far gone to maintain its own inner harmony. To put it simply, the Great Devourer is the big red button you push when things go wrong. A reset button.  
_

_Now that I've completely baffled you all (and I do apologize for some of the things that go through my mind), whatcha think? Too complicated? Too vague? Needs more detail or a slower pace? Too boring? I hope I've explained everything sufficiently. If not, you can contact me via PMs or the review box; I respond to both._

_So, until next time, my brilliant readers! KatStorm, over and out!  
_


	9. Knowing What You're Up Against

_Well, I don't know about you all, but I'm still loving winter break. Now, what I DON'T need is another ton of snow this year. It was either last year or the year before that that I was out of school for the entire month of February because someone saw dark clouds when it was twenty degrees. I think it might have snowed twice all month, but there was "black ice" so we didn't go to school... and then had to make it up the following year. I don't know about you, but make-up days suck. (I went to town a lot during that month. Yeah, that "black ice" must have been in the far corner of the universe/county, because it wasn't on the main roads nor the back roads. SO... Like I said: they saw scary clouds of darkness.)_

_Today, we have a special guest to do the disclaimer because I'm running out of things to say to keep it interesting. Please welcome out guest speaker, Zane Julien! Take it away, Mr. Nindroid!_

_Zane: KatStorm does not own Ninjago or any of its associated parties or campaigns, only her OCs and plot._

* * *

**Knowing What You're Up Against Tends to Help... Usually**

**Zel's POV**

I slammed my head back against the wall and let out a low hiss of aggravation. I should have know that hot-headed fire ninja wouldn't listen to me, and now they could be walking right into another trap! I knew my idea was far-fetched, but it seemed accurate and even my craziest of ideas usually came through for me in the end.

But this was one thing I would have loved to have been wrong about.

Regardless, the coincidence was just too great for it to be that innocent. Even if that droid was lying, why would it? I used the exact same command sequence I was programmed with and it replied. It shouldn't have lied, unless it had voice recognition and knew that I was a loose cannon. Knowing Jedediah, I wouldn't have put it past him, but something still didn't add up.

Jedediah. Pythor. Great Devourer. Fang blades. Green Ninja. Garmadon.

Somehow, this was all connected, but how?

A soft clinking from under the bed drew me out of my thoughts. I watched, befuddled, as the chains around my arms and legs loosened before dropping limp on the mattress and floor. Not a second later, an ivory shock of hair poked over the edge of the bed and a blinding-white grin was sent my way.

"You're welcome," Wraith winked, standing up.

I sprang to my feet instantly, nodding my gratitude as I went. "How far ahead are they?"

"Ten minutes, give or take," he shrugged. "We're going after them, right?"

"If Jedediah's working with Pythor, and the ninja was chasing him down, then they'll lead me straight to him."

"So that's a yes?" he asked hopefully.

I regarded him with an odd expression. "Is it just me, or are you itching for a fight?"

A sent me a lofty grin. "I'm a whip, aren't I?" Immediately after speaking, he melted into shadows and shrank back inside of his golden casing. **Now let's go kick some tail!**

Unfortunately for him, Wraith's plan didn't go as planned, because at that exact moment, the _Bounty plummeted_ a few feet in the air before careening to one side. I was tossed clear to the other side of the room where I collided painfully with a wardrobe. The doors of the great chestnut piece flew open and an entourage of steel weapons clattered to the floor around me. When I tried to stagger to my feet, the ship jerked once again and I was launched to the other side of the room. A double-bladed dagger sank into the wall next to where I fell, dangerously close to my neck. I yanked it from the wall and shoved it under the sash in my kimono.

"_¿Qué diablos está pasando?_" I said aloud.

**I think someone's drunk behind the wheel**, offered Wraith lightly.

_Drunk behind the wheel... but who would still be on the ship? Everyone went after Pythor._

It clicked.

"Lloyd," I breathed.

_Destiny's Bounty_ pitched forward and I threw out my hands to avoid sailing face-first into the closed door. Before the vessel could toss me heaven-knows-where, I bolted from the room and towards the control room. On the way there, I was slammed into walls more than I took actual footsteps, but in the end, I somehow made it to the bridge. [Jay: Somebody used Wraith as a GPS, didn't she?]

[…] Shut up. [Kai snickers]

"Lloyd!" I called out, stumbling into the control room.

The dashboard was beeping frantically as the Green Ninja jerked the wheel all over the place to avoid the mounds of rock poking up from the earth. The _Bounty _shuddered as it whipped from side to side and I could faintly hear the wood groaning with every twist and turn.

"Lloyd, what's going on?" I demanded. I had long-since resorted to crawling and I didn't make to move from my crouched position.

The young boy turned and peered down at my with large eyes. "Everyone left, but they might get in trouble again and need my help! I can't let them do this alone!"

"Here, let me steer. I brought a weapon from your room, but I don't know how much good it'll do against our opponents," I pulled the dagger from my sash and held it out.

Lloyd made the ship lurch around one more rock formation before stepping aside. I gratefully took the wheel and handed over the weapon. _Destiny's Bounty _stopped swerving wildly as soon as I pinned down the wheel, but as I tried to keep up the pace _and _dodge obstacles, I realized regrettably that Lloyd's erratic flying skills were actually what had kept the _Bounty _from smashing into something. Normal steering was impractical at such high speeds, but I'd like to think that I was a little better at flying than he.

[Lloyd: You wish.]

"Hey, Lloyd," I said as I dipped under a gaping chasm. "Since no one wants to tell me anything, you mind bringing me up to date on this whole Devourer thing?"

* * *

As it turned out, the _Bounty's _rocket boosters could only go full speed for so long, as it was hours later when we finally reached Ouroboros. [Jay: Hey, tell them about how Lloyd had to give your directions the whole way since you can't find your way out of a paper bag!] Oh, hush, you-! Just because I'm a skilled fighter doesn't mean my navigation systems are flawless! [Kai (laughing): Pfft! You have navigation systems? Since when?] Hmph. Fine. Make fun of the directionally changed nindroid. Not all of us are perfect, you know. [Jay: Speak for yourself!]

See what I have to put up with? [huffs]

"The lost city of Ouroboros," Lloyd said in awe as the city slowly manifested from the looming desert. The boy reached over and punched a button on the panel; the _Bounty _leaped forward, quivering in anticipation. I gripped the wheel tighter.

"Did you just tell me that we couldn't go full speed the whole way?" I questioned.

"Sprinting to the finish line," he said with a cheeky grin.

Laughing, I rolled my eyes, and out of the corner of them, I happened to catch a glimpse of a certain green chain of buses. I activated my far-sights, I could make out the four ninja (plus Nya) sitting dejectedly inside of the smashed remains of the chain. It looked as though the leading bus, the one with the engine, had been snapped off.

"Looks like someone needs a boost," Lloyd pushed another button on the panel and a small message popped up on the screen: anchor deployed.

That boy was pretty smart when he wanted to be.

The anchor caught the side of the chain, hoisting the buses high into the air. Surprisingly, _Destiny's Bounty _was able to carry the extra weight without a single mishap. I took a moment to marvel at its craftsmanship.

"Lloyd!" the ninja cried when they caught sight of the boy waving at them through the glass.

"Hook, line, and sinker!" he crowed, punching the air with his fist.

"Get us to Ouroboros as fast as you can!" Kai yelled above the roaring of the engines.

[Lloyd: See? I told you that guy can be heard anywhere!]

"Aye, aye, captain!"

I let the boy take the wheel from me as a sort of confidence boost. He handled it with surprising dexterity. Maybe he had been paying attention when I was steering. The _Bounty _rose high in the air, the chain of buses clearing the tallest of the rocky peaks. The designated driver wasn't even breaking a sweat.

* * *

Though Ouroboros was visible for miles since I was out in the desert, it still took a while to actually get there. The sun had long since set by the time Lloyd set the bus chain down in the outskirts of the city and an odd dust storm and swirling around its interior. Were we too late?

Lloyd and I raced to the deck and shimmied down the anchor's chain, the boy yelling, "Wait for us, guys!" as we hustled. I noticed the heated glare of a certain fire ninja bearing into me as we caught up, but what was a girl to do?

**I for one think he fancies you**, said Wraith smugly.

_Time and place, Wraith_, I bit my lip. _And where's that coming from, anyways?_

**Curious, are we?**

_You're really not helping_, I grumbled.

The seven of us raced towards the heart of the city just as a tremor shook the earth.

"What was that?" Jay demanded in a shrill voice. "Cole, are you fooling around with your scythe?"

"That wasn't me," the earth ninja said. "I think it came from the center of the city!"

"Do you mean where we first fought against Nya as Samurai X when Lloyd was held prisoner?" asked Zane.

"That sounds about right," Nya piped up. "But we have to hurry! Sensei and Pythor could still be fighting!"

"Sensei Wu is fighting Pythor alone?" Lloyd's eyes widened.

"He said it was his destiny, or something like that," Kai whipped out his sword, a fierce glint in his eyes. "But I'm not about to let him take on that Serpentine by himself!"

We exploded into the heart of the city, and as the earth shuddered beneath our feet, I realized that we couldn't have come at a worse time.

What once appeared to have been a might arena had been leveled during the earthquakes. Large boulders and the remains of what might have been a large statue littered the ground, and bits and pieces of it were falling out of sight with every pulse of my system. A swirling carving spiraled into the center of the circular arena where a familiar purple general and spinjitzu master stood frozen.

"What's going on?" Kai slammed to a half. "Is that a creature underground?"

My eyes sought the gaping earth before us but fear slammed into my as a pair of glowing orbs illuminated the space.

"You must do everything in your power to stop the Great Devourer!" Sensei Wu screamed over the sound of the earth ripping itself apart. "Go, ninja! GO!"

"No, Sensei-!" Kai began, but just as he took a step towards his mentor, a shrieking cry drowned out all else as a great mass lurched just under the surface.

The ground exploded in all direction as a massive serpent head soared upwards towards the skies. Its head alone could have easily rivaled the size of a skyscraper, but its diameter was almost twenty meters thick. Rippling scales of platinum and the darkest green flexed as it arched its neck to peer down at us miniscule lifeforms. Glowing magenta eyes shown brighter than the sun as it raked its contemptuous gaze across us. Lightning chose to make itself known just as the Great Devourer opened it mouth, flashing two long fangs in our direction, and let loose a roar that shook the very existence of the universe itself.

Pythor screamed like a girl.

I shoved Lloyd behind me as the rest of the ninja and Nya scrambled backwards into the opening of an alleyway. Elbows jabbed into rib cages, but there was no time to be picky when faced with _that_.

Before any of us could do, say, or think anything for that matter, the head descended in a rush of darkness and encased Sensei Wu and Pythor in its jaws.

Someone screamed. Someone whispered a faint protest. All I could do was stare in horror.

"Maybe if we stand," Jay gulped, "perfectly still..."

The Devourer's head snapped towards us and another roar shook the foundations of the city.

"RUUUUUUNN!" Kai shoved his sword back into its sheathe.

He didn't need to tell us twice.

**Cole's POV**

And here I was thinking you all had forgotten about me. [Zel: Of course not, master.] Zel... [Zel (innocently): Yes, master?]

I give up.

"Okay, so we've lost the _Bounty_, our dragons and Sensei Wu are gone, all of our equipment has been eaten by a hu-freaking-mungous snake that devourers worlds, our elemental weapons are basically useless, and now we're letting _Kai_ come up with the plan? Am I the only one that sees a problem with this?" Jay's voice crackled over the radio of my tread assault.

We had abandoned the attempt to kill the Great Devourer, seeing as how the majority of my brothers were running away at full speed and screaming like little children. [Jay: I tripped and that _thing_ was right behind me! I was perfectly within my rights, mister!] Dodging the snake was more than difficult, but between ducking around inside of Crash-Course Canyon and hiding out in the shadows once the _Bounty _was hit, we all managed to escaped unharmed. In all honesty, I was relieved _and _grateful. Sometimes, I was really glad that Kai had a capable sister like Nya; Samurai X just kept on pulling us from danger's jaws.

The controls of my tread assault vibrated under my grasp and emitted long purrs from its engine as it barreled over the ground, kicking up sand in every direction. Kai's blade cycle and Zane's snowmobile flanked me on either side, Jay's storm glider casting a shadow over all three of our vehicles. Even after all of this time and during our lowest points, the familiar formation still brought a side to my face.

"Actually, I am the one constructing the design," interjected Zane.

"Really?" Jay seemed interested now. "Mind if I take a look? I dabbled in inventing before Sensei picked me up."

"You dabbled in _something _before Sensei found you," muttered Kai.

"Listen, I think Kai's onto something," I intervened before the discussion could get heated. "If the Great Devourer's only purpose is to eat until nothing is left, it'll want to start with something small and easy to get, and _then _work its way up to something larger. The dump is the best place to head it off; plus, we'll have all the materials we need to build this baby."

"Whoa! Zane, you built this?" Jay sounded downright impressed.

"We're going to build it, but yes, the initial design is as idea I've had in my system for quite some time now," the nindroid almost seemed proud.

"Mind if I take a look?" I asked.

A moment later, blue and white schematics flooded the screen of my vehicle. I didn't understand half of what was scribbled, but the overall outline looked pretty sweet.

"Nice..." I grinned and forwarded the picture to Kai.

"I know, right? I added the grappling hooks," Jay boasted.

"Grappling hooks? I never though of that," Zane pondered aloud. "Where did you put them?"

"Starboard and portside additions along the intermediate flanking supports," responded Jay. "I figured that the central accumulation would be able to support the extra weight without collapsing, not to mention the serious coolness improvement. I mean, two is functional, but four is _wicked_."

"Don't get all technical on me," interrupted Kai. [The man himself: Besides, I thought port and starboard were used to describe left and right on a ship.] [Jay: _Please_. The day _you _invent something that awesome, you describe it however you want, but I'm sticking with my version.] "I never finished explaining. Zane—and Jay—I need you to add a function that allows us to shoot compressed wavelengths. Can you do that?"

"Like a sonic blaster?" the ninja of lightning seemed to perk up.

"...Sure. Just make it accurate."

"One high-tech sonic blaster coming up!"

"Sonic blaster?" I questioned.

"Sonic blaster! Y'know, that gun that shoots sound and deafens everyone?"

"Jay, I believe Cole is looking for a more specific reason as well as an explanation," said Zane. "Kai, why would we need to be able to shoot compressed wavelengths? As far as my calculations go, there are no sound frequencies with the ability to harm or even stun this creature, no matter the magnitude."

"No frequencies... except for the music from the sacred flute," said Kai smugly.

"Great idea, Kai! In fact, it would be a _marvelous_ idea if the flute hadn't been taken by the Serpentine ages ago!" Jay retorted.

"I still have an audio recording from the time I first played it," Zane offered.

"Do you really think that a recording will stop the Devourer?" I asked, frowning.

"The probability is highly unlikely, but not impossible, though stopping is a little extreme. At best, the Devourer will only become submissive, not passive."

"That'll have to do," said Kai decisively. "Just to be safe, how big can we make these sonic blasters, Zane, Jay?"

"How about sonic _cannons_?" I could imagine Zane smiling as he spoke.

"Woohoo! That stupid snake won't know what hit him!" cheered Jay. The storm glider did a loop-de-loop in the air above me.

"Now you're talking!" I couldn't help but grin.

Sometimes, I really did love being a ninja.

**Zane's POV**

Nya carried Lloyd and Zel to the landfill where Jay's parents resided and we met up with the trio there. When I dispersed my snowmobile, I noticed Zel assisting Nya in the repairs she was making to her samurai suit, Lloyd watching on with a curious expression. As soon as the others returned their elemental weapons to their normal forms, the three bolted over.

"What's the plan?" Nya asked right off of the bat.

"This," Kai pulled the blueprints of the new vehicle from his pocket and spread it out over the hood of a beaten car. White marks marred the entirety of the curled blue paper, its ink still wet from the printer. [Jay: Don't gimmie that look, Zel. Nobody else had an elemental vehicle as technical as mine. I also had a coffee pot, a jukebox, a function that dropped a net from the underside, this really sweet ejector seat that let me catapult Kai into a-]

[Kai: ZANE, KEEP TALKING OVER HIM!]

[Zel: No, no, Jay. Let's take this outside, you and me. This sounds like a very inspiring tale.]

[Kai: Oh, no you don't-!]

"Looks like my parents are gone," Jay called from somewhere deeper in the landfill. The teenager reappeared after a short pause, fiddling with something under his armor.

"Better for us," Kai nodded firmly. We ninja and Nya crowded around the hood of the vehicle. "Good. Now, there must be enough spare parts around here to built this thing, so we'll need to be ready to make our biggest Tornado of Creation yet. We're looking for precision this time."

Lloyd, who had previously been jumping in circles around us to try and see over our shoulders, was scooped up by Zel, who let him sit atop hers. The Green Ninja wrapped his arms around the top of her head as he leaned over to stare down at the designs. "Cool!" he remarked with a wide smile.

"This is going to be dangerous, so we can't let anyone be around," continued Kai, but the fire ninja was cut off by a ringing from the entrance to the landfill, a ringing that sounded suspiciously like that of a bike. Whistling a jaunty tune, the mailman rolled in under the archway.

Cole groaned loudly. "What _he _doing here?"

"His job?" Zel raised an eyebrow and sat Lloyd down. Kai shot the kunoichi a look before advancing on the helpless mailman.

I turned my eyes away from my brothers and back to the curious android before me. I had never really had the chance to look at Zel properly—as she had attacked me during our first meeting, had been protected by her brother during the second encounter, and had been confronting Pythor and his vanishing automation the last—but now that she seemed to have slowed down long enough for me to get a glimpse of her, I found myself enthralled. I had never layed eyes on another robot previous to our encounter. I believed myself to be completely unique, but Zel proved me delightfully wrong (even though she was a little more confrontational than I might have expected another nindroid to be). She had a humanized exterior, though the slits in her arms and legs gave her away. Her hair was short and spiky—similar to Kai's in a less unkempt way—but a vibrant shade of red that I had never seen before. Her eyes, though seemingly gray irises, were actually microscopic cameras hidden behind flexible glass; it was almost as if she had working pupils, irises, and retina. The sleeves of her deep purple kimono had been pushed up past her elbows and tied in place, the golden strands woven into the material drawing the illusion of color to her pastel face. Her fake skin itself was almost as white as snow, but darker in some places where her oil ran closer to the surface. She had a small nose and high cheekbones, but also a fresh slash along her upper forehead from where Jedediah had rendered her form unconscious. Zel carried about her a certain aspect of beauty, one which I had never encountered in any human, but there was something ambiguous about it all; it was almost as if her beauty was meant to be misleading.

She was a fascinating creature.

[Kai: Only you would find a girl who's out to kill you fascinating...]

"ZANE?! IS NOW REALLY THE TIME TO BE SPACING OUT?! A LITTLE HELP OVER HERE!"

Jay's high-pitched scream jolted me back to reality. The Great Devourer towered over my friends and the terrified mailman, who dove into the nearest trash can with a cry of, "SNAAAAAAAAAKKE!"

"It's now or never, guys!" Kai bellowed. "NinjaGO! FIRE!"

"EARTH!"

"LIGHTNING!"

"ICE!"

Our spinjitzu combined to form a single whirling tornado. The Tornado of Creation was ready, but so were we. Summoning my elemental powers through my shurikens, I molded the picture of mine and Jay's design, fusing it to my brothers' own creations around me. Items from all over the landfill rocketed towards us, but as I watched through the eyes of my falcon far above, I noticed the harmony in which everything fell into place.

Harmony is radiant.

Reverting back to my own vision, I finished up my part and dropped back to the earth—and right into my seat on the Ultra Sonic Raider.

"Zane, now!" Kai shouted without giving my time to check my surroundings. I ran a hasty scan of the Raider's controls before shoving the joysticks forward. A blast of music swept just over the Great Devourer's head.

"Zane, what was that?" demanded Cole. "This isn't target practice! You're suppose to hit him, not... give him a haircut!"

The large snake shook out its scales and flicked its tongue at us with a long hiss.

"May I remind you that we just magically whipped up this heap of junk?" I grumbled, fumbling with the controls.

Funny. I didn't remember what half of this did, and since when was there a button there?

"I hope one of us created a reverse feature," Kai said urgently.

Oops.

"Because... _reverse!_"

"How's this for reverse!" Jay laughed, bringing his fist down on one of the buttons. The Raider shot backwards faster than I could have imagined and slammed into a pile of garbage. The entire tower swayed precariously and a few pieces of trash rained down around us.

"Watch where you're going, idiot! This isn't _Fast and Furious!_" Kai snapped, rubbing the back of his head.

"Hold on!" Cole yelled, grabbing ahold of his controls. The Ultra Sonic Raider sped away from the tottering pile towards the Devourer at an angle. The mouth of the great snake bore down on us with the force of a wrecking ball, but Cole managed to maneuver the Raider out of the way every time. However, I knew that our luck wouldn't last for long, so I shot another blast at the Devourer.

Another miss.

"I need your help holding him in place," I told my brothers in a loud voice as the Raider spun doughnuts in the dirt. "I can't get a clear shot."

"How's this?" Jay stabbed another button and low and behold, a grappling hook shot from the side of the Raider and sunk into the flesh of the serpent. Who knew those would come in handy so soon? The lightning ninja reached out to hit the button next to it, but a flash of purple made him hesitate.

Zel.

The kunoichi was racing towards the Great Devourer at impossible speeds. I could only stare as she flung herself to the ground in front of it and brought her whip down with a loud crack. What happened next, I have never forgotten to this day.

The shadows of the Great Devourer contorted violently in a grotesque dance that wound up the neck of the serpent. Darkness engulfed the snake, whose shriek rivaled the volume of thunder, and slowly the Devourer collapsed into a heap on the sand.

The Great Devourer had been beaten by its own shadow.

"Any day, Zane!" Zel bellowed, a trickle of sweat running down her face. "I can't hold it here forever!"

I shoved the joysticks forward without a second's pause and cried, "Charm your way out of _this_!"

The blast caught the Devourer full in the face and the great snake swayed backwards. Now that the Raider had locked onto a target, it continued to harass the serpent, who veered to one side before crumpling to the ground.

"It's working!" Cole let out a whoop and exchanged a high five with Jay over his shoulder. The earth ninja said something else after that, but I cranked up the volume on the recording. Better safe than sorry, and my brothers and I could celebrate when this was all over.

The Great Devourer writhed on the sand before us, its eyes shut tight, fangs gnashing. It only took a moment later, but the ninja of fire took no more hesitation in pointing at the snake and shouting, "There! It's got a weak spot on its forehead!"

Cole yelled something inaudible [Jay: But you heard Kai. You know, I think Lloyd has a point.] and glanced over his shoulder. Kai started to reply, but I never heard his next words because the sky turned black and pain erupted within my servers.

* * *

_Duhn duhn duhn! The ninja have seen what Zel can do, or rather, what Wraith can do because of her. Regardless of this turn of events, is there enough time to notice this oddity with the Devourer on the loose? Surely something like that won't go unnoticed...  
_


End file.
